As an annual tradition, the PHS Spectacle Theater opens up the season of giving with a fall play. This year, from November 17-20, they presented “The Play That Goes Wrong.” Unlike last year, when the Spectacle Theater’s performance of “Bethel Park Falls” was recorded and streamed due to COVID restrictions, the play was performed in front of a live audience. 
 “The Play that Goes Wrong” follows the fictional Cornley Drama Society as they attempt to put on a show called “The Murder at Haversham Manor.” This presents a challenge, as everything seems to go wrong - to start with, they have no budget or good actors. As the show progresses, a series of unfortunate events unravels, turning the play into a complete and utter disaster that made the audience cackle to their core. With an unconscious lead, a moving corpse, a ruffled detective, and a butler that fumbles his words, this comedic murder mystery kept the audience on their toes while the ‘actors’ themselves tripped over their lines and props. 
Sylven Waldman ‘25, who played Dennis, was absolutely ecstatic when he first heard about the show. 
“The moment I heard about it, I immediately downloaded a copy of the script and read it through completely because I was so excited,” Waldman said.
Though putting a production together is no easy feat (as demonstrated by the play itself), the cast worked hard to put on a good performance. 
“We’ve been rehearsing since late September. Initially, they were 2-3 times a week and we only had to stay back until 5:30. As we got closer to show day, we started rehearsing more often, about 5 days a week and the occasional weekend rehearsal. The last few rehearsals ran longer until about 9:00,” said Elliott Becker Peeler ’24, who played Chris in the show. 
“It’s a very physically demanding show. Because it relies so much on physical comedy, rehearsals have sometimes felt more like sports practice. The stunts are hard and the whole cast has had to build up a lot of strength and stamina. I find three new bruises when I come home every day, but the brutal nature of the show makes it all the more rewarding when we get it right. The preparation has been hard work but it’s work that all of us have put in and I know it’s going to pay off when we have an audience,” said Pippi White ’23, who played Robert.
This play presented a unique challenge - it had to be intentionally bad. 
“The rehearsal process has been tough but rewarding. There are so many bits in the show that the actors and crew need to do perfectly wrong, and they’re very satisfying to pull off as a team. The easiest part has definitely been playing off the other actors on stage,” Peeler said.  
The production also gave the students involved a sense of community. After spending long hours together in rehearsals, the cast and crew members grew close. 
 “[The preparation] was very physically demanding but also rewarding at the same time. My favorite part about the play is the community and support system that goes along with it. The whole process of line memorization, blocking, and stunts is so much more enjoyable with friends,” said Noa Zacks ’25, who played Annie. 
The play could not be done without the PHS Tech Crew, who work behind the scenes. 
“The Tech Crew manages the props, lighting, sound, stage management, costumes, painting, carpentry, and set design for the play. During tech week, which is the week leading up to the performance, we stayed afterschool until 9 every day with the cast for run throughs,” said Carolina Kertesz ’23, props supervisor and Tech Crew co-leader. 
The process presented some challenges to the crew members, though it all came together in the end. 
 “It was difficult figuring out what looks best on stage. We had to be able to differentiate between how it would look painted in a classroom and how it would look with all the lights. We did have to redo some parts, and some days we would stay after school until 10:00 pm, but in the end it all got done. Overall, it was such a fun experience, and it looked amazing,” said Tech Crew member Elizabeth Waldman ’25. 

PHS Spectacle Theatre presents “The Play That Goes Wrong” 

Vivre sa Vie
   In 1968, film critic Richard Roud wrote that the art of cinema rests on three paradoxes: visual versus narrative, fiction versus documentary, and reality versus abstraction. Perhaps no director has better reconciled these in their work than the late Jean-Luc Godard, whose films never sought to resolve these paradoxes, but to exploit and display them. Godard, a French director, has said that his films are, in essence, self-directed works of film criticism. Few films demonstrate Godard’s dualism of touching narrative and formalist experimentation better than 1962’s “Vivre Sa Vie”, a true chef d’oeuvre of French cinema. 
   Comprising twelve clearly demarcated “tableaux,” or episodes, “Vivre Sa Vie” tells the story of Nana (Anna Karina), a young parisienne who leaves her husband and slowly descends into prostitution to make ends meet. The episodic structure of “Vivre Sa Vie” allows the movie to avoid a tightly-woven, continuous dramatic plot. Instead, we are given brief glimpses into Nana’s world, each centered around one location or action. One rather straightforwardly depicts Nana’s first experience with a client, others show us a joyous dance through a billiard hall, a letter written over the course of eight minutes, a conversation with a philosopher about love and language (“the more one talks, the less words mean”). These chapters vary in mood, duration, and style, but what unites them is a sense of cold detachment that the world around Nana has towards her. The gray bareness of the city is so immediate that one feels as if Nana’s Paris would appear monochrome even if filmed in color. Her endurant liveliness seems nullified by her uncaring surroundings, manifested both in the blank dreariness of the film’s locations and the objectifying gaze of the film’s male characters. Although she encounters some moments of reciprocated humanity, Nana fails to make any impact on the world around her, almost as if she exists on a different, incompatible plane of existence.
   Godard uses his formalist experimentation to accentuate a similar condition present between the viewer and Nana. By playing with the form of the motion picture in certain moments (such as intentionally positioning key action beyond the edge of the frame, alternating between sound and silence, or positioning actors in unrealistic statue-like positions), Godard draws our attention to film’s status as an art. This not only allows for some truly brilliant effects in certain scenes (which I will leave for the viewer to experience), but makes us aware of the divide between ourselves and what is happening on screen. We are upset by the tragedy prevalent in Nana’s life, but there is nothing we can do about it. Just as Nana is isolated from her surroundings by her role as a sex object, we are made aware of her isolation from help from outside the screen. This makes the moments when Karina looks directly into the camera so striking: it almost seems as if she is pleading with us, but as Godard makes us aware by drawing our attention to the medium he is using, we are unable to help her or reach her. We can only gaze and empathize, as Nana herself does in the film when she sees “The Passion of Joan of Arc” (1928) at the cinema. She cries silently at the tragedy on screen, and evidently sees some of herself in Joan of Arc, but ultimately is powerless to do anything about it. That same situation is part of what makes “Vivre Sa Vie” so heartbreaking for me: the isolation Nana feels from both her fictional world, and our reality. Like many of Godard’s other films, this is once again a commentary on film itself and its power as an art.
   “Vivre Sa Vie” is a must watch for anyone wading into the vast ocean that is French cinema, a tragic and violent contrast of form and content that makes the film, for me, not just one of the most beautiful films of all time, but one of the greatest works of art I have ever experienced.

Another Round 
Danish director Thomas Vinterberg’s 2020 dramatic comedy “Another Round” follows a group of four high school teachers as they conduct an experiment where they live out their daily lives while keeping their blood alcohol level at 0.05. Each participant has a different living situation, and navigates the temptation, pleasure, and downfall that come with alcohol abuse in different ways. In doing so, the film provides a more nuanced depiction of alcoholism than has traditionally been presented in the media.
This is the film's biggest strength: it doesn’t spoonfeed the audience a black and white narrative. The lives of the central characters are boring and dull at the beginning, and are shattered and lonely by the end; they are left to decide whether the pleasure sandwiched between the two phases was worth the anguish of going too far. Where other movies about depression and alcoholism may feel like a PSA, “Another Round” approaches the subject of alcohol in a broader, social context, because ultimately the story isn’t about alcohol, it's about loneliness. One such example of Vinterberg’s nuanced approach to alcohol is the inclusion of a small subplot near the end of the movie. A student is extremely nervous for their final exam and if they don’t pass the exam they won’t be able to graduate. In order to calm the kids' nerves the teacher in charge of the exam, who is also part of the experiment, gives him some alcohol… and it works. What matters is not the substance, but the person, the experience, and the situation.
The setting of the high school is essential, as it juxtaposes the stagnant lives of the teachers with the far more active lives of their students, who have their whole lives ahead of them. This mundane setting also makes the film more relatable, and therefore more immersive. When the experiment is introduced, shifting the film from a melancholic drama to a comedy, you are more open to the idea because the film is finally allowing you to have fun, just as the characters are as well. While watching, you are tempted towards the vice of alcohol within the film, which in turn helps you understand how the characters are feeling. It masterfully shifts from tone to tone to create that ultimate mesmeric experience. 
What makes the film a technical marvel is how it imbues these tones with corresponding levels of energy with the score, cinematography and editing. It can be slow moving, with wide shots and infrequent cuts accompanied with gloomy jazz. But at other times it can be filled with handheld whip pans, fast cuts, and loud dance pop. Although these visual/audio changes may seem jarring on paper, the film does a great job of transitioning between its various emotional phases. One of these ways is by making the characters interact with the motifs, such as bodies of water, in a way corresponding to the energy of the scene; providing thematic consistency .
Mads Mikkelsen, who plays the lead role of Martin, is the highlight of the movie. He brings everything to the table with an absolutely spectacular and moving performance of an entirely unspectacular and ordinary man. He does more unleashed, dramatic scenes, but the powerful moments are those where you see his discontent and loneliness come out in small ways. The way he moves, talks, and even stands still evokes a sadness that is hard to describe… a man who doesn’t see better days ahead of him or looks forward to things, he just exists. Equal parts a broad social commentary and a touching personal story, “Another Round” is a Danish blessing to the drama genre.

Film reviews on Vivre Sa Vie and Another Round

Sky:
	Every year, when the leaves turn yellow and the air turns sweet, my family starts making room in our trunk to start packing for our annual hike. While it may be common, going hiking during fall has been my family’s Thanksgiving tradition ever since I can remember. Out of all the places we’ve set foot in, our favorite reserve is the Mohonk mountain, and the endless photos in our camera roll and albums on our walls prove its merit. Usually, the tradition will start a week before, with a family discussion in our group chat or at the dinner table. Because both my parents work and my brother and I are juniors, it has gotten a little harder over the past years to schedule a time that works for all of us, but we try our best to be considerate of each other. After deciding on the day we’ll go, my dad will start going through each box in our garage and basement, trying to find the right hiking shoes for my mom, small bags we can  carry, hiking sticks, etc. While the drive to the reserve is a bit painful, when you get on the mountain itself, your mind goes blank — almost like someone just emptied your trash. The crisp fall air strikes your nose the more you hike and the heavier you breathe, and your feet start to latch onto the rocks and dirt on the ground. There are some routes on the hike that my family has found to be more interesting, so sometimes we change sides as we go. By the time we get to the top of the mountain, there is a sense of unity and bonding even through the sweat and tiredness, and I always end up sitting on the ground, breathing in and out, trying to catch every glimpse of the fall scenery. The leaves are so small, yet they fill such a big portion of the sky, and every time the breeze shakes them, it looks as though they are dancing. It is not long from then, we start unpacking our bags and enjoying the food we packed that morning. Taking selfies and group photos, we talk about how we think this year went, and hope to come back next year.
	

Avery:
	If I am being completely honest, Thanksgiving has never been my preferred holiday. By this time of year my mind is already shifted to snow, gingerbread cookies, and listening to “Last Christmas” by Wham! on repeat. For me, it was a dinner in which all my aunts and uncles would barrage my brother and I with endless questions, and the only thing on the table I was interested in was the mashed potatoes. 
	Most years, my family alternates celebrating holidays between my mother and my father’s side. This usually means Thanksgiving with my mother’s family in New Jersey, and Christmas with my dad’s family in Virginia. 
However, this year is a special case in which both groups will be gathered at my own house. People of different backgrounds and cultures will be in the same place at the same time. I couldn’t be happier, and I have come to realize that my changed feelings surrounding this year’s Thanksgiving are largely due to the fact that my appreciation for gathering with loved ones has grown. Although things have improved in the last two years, the pandemic put my extended family at a reach that is much greater than just the distance separating us, in that most of our interactions involved FaceTimes and six-feet-apart greetings outside. My brother left for college just this August, leaving me as an only child and the only teenager in the house. 
So as I look forward to November 24, I visualize the warm lights in the living room, faint yet cheerful laughs over the jazz music, a smörgåsbord of pies and cookies spread out across the wooden table, and most importantly, the faces of both sides of my family bonding together when they would have otherwise been in two completely different states. 
Something I will encourage my father to play again is my favorite piece of music traditionally used at fall gatherings: the Charlie Brown theme music by the Vince Guaraldi Trio. The subtle yet peppy piano layered into each song always puts me in a fall mood. In terms of dessert (my preferred part of the meal), my aunt always brings pies of extravagant flavors to the table. The bakeries she gets them from are unfamiliar to me yet deserving of a Michelin star. This year there will be flavors such as honey and chocolate chess, both of which already make my mouth water. 
With all this to look forward to, I imagine myself in a painting that seems perfect, a glittering masterpiece that encapsulates the joy of getting to catch up with one another over a special meal. For that, I am lucky to recognize the art my family seems to create on Thanksgiving. 
	
Marina:
	On most days, turkey would be near the bottom of my list of top choices of food to eat since I’ve always thought of it as one of the blandest proteins. But, Thanksgiving is not one of those days.
	My parents and I, having moved to the U.S. from Brazil in 2009, have no historical family tradition or connection to Thanksgiving, which allowed us to create our own reasons to celebrate this day. From the moment we moved here, we have met countless Brazilian families in the area, and though some have moved away and many new ones have arrived, we have always maintained a group that is our found family abroad, the people who we celebrate our “friendsgiving” with.
	Unafraid to stray from classic American food traditions, my parents and the other adults have made many attempts at different Thanksgiving menus. However, after tantrums by five-year-olds over duck instead of turkey and ceviche instead of stuffing, and one year’s somewhat underwhelming suckling pig (though nowadays I would love both options), the turkey somehow remained champion. However, by no means does this mean my dad makes your standard, basic, dry turkey. Every year he has always strived to do better than the last, putting all his energy into a five-day cooking preparation. And without fail, whenever he pulls the 25-pound turkey out from his Big Green Egg barbecue grill, it comes out with a beautifully crisped, caramel-colored skin, and with the most tender meat that will melt off the bone. The turkey is always the star of the show at our dinner, and all 30+ guests marvel throughout the rest of the year, waiting for that Thursday in November when they actually feel like eating turkey.

Sophie:
 Other than the anticipation of finally seeing old friends, eating delicious food, and getting a break, the most wonderful part of Thanksgiving is none other than the feeling of togetherness. It’s the one day designated for us to take time off just to spend time with the people we love. 
Unfortunately, my extended family lives across the world in China, so they don’t get the pleasure of getting this day off. My parents, having no experience with preparing Thanksgiving dinner or the “conventional” traditions of this holiday, started their own by blending our two cultures: American and Chinese. 
For starters, my parents would wake up early in the morning to prepare a meal for all of our family friends, and the aroma of green beans, bok choy, potatoes, beef, and lasagna — a strangely eccentric combo — would fill up our kitchen. As well, instead of the classic turkey, my parents would boil a chicken and soak it in rice wine to bring out its tangy flavor. Friends would start coming by late afternoon, with the adults chattering and relaxing on the couch while children played ping pong and watched whatever was on the TV. 
Aside from my favorite dish, tiramisu, we would end the night with a bit of karaoke. Mostly the adults would start playing around with the machine until they found a pop song or nursery rhymes — all in Chinese — and soon everyone else would be giggling and waiting for their turn to choose a “good” song. Although I am fluent in the language, reading Chinese characters is quite a struggle for me, so I just watch and lay on the couch, marveling at my parents’ annual concert and laughing with everybody. 

Seasonal sentiments: a collection of Thanksgiving traditions

Propped over his paint-splattered desk, a bright idea and a blank canvas are all it takes for JP Kinney ’23 to create another masterpiece. From school work to personal projects, Kinney showcases his talent and creativity while doing what he loves: visual art. He is most confident while painting, but is also experienced in drawing, sculpting, and designing multimedia projects. Inspired by his family and motivated by self-mastery, he is eager to grow and excited to see where his journey leads in the future. 

How did you begin your visual art journey? 
I’ve been doing art my whole life - my mom is an artist, and I’ve just grown up surrounded by painting. [She] helps run The Cranbury Arts Council, and when she would go do the plays for the middle school, she would bring me to do the backdrops. I’d have my little paints on the stage and I’d paint [with her]. My mom is definitely my inspiration. 

What are you working on right now? 
I’m working on a lot of animation, which [I think] is really cool. I use Clip Studio Paint for animation and [digital] drawing. I also have a Huion Tablet for graphic-style drawing. Right now I’m also working on oil painting - I think painting is my best work. 

What kind of training or classes have you taken?
I’ve taken classes at the Paul Robeson Center for The Arts with the Arts Council of Princeton - [I do] mostly acrylic painting there. Right now I’m taking Studio Art 2-D 3 with Mr. Pembleton. For underclassmen, I definitely recommend looking into the [art] classes and teachers - they are all really nice and helpful. If you want to go to an Arts School after [high school], they can help you with your portfolio and write [recommendation] letters. 

Do you like Digital or Painting better? 
Digital art is much easier to sit down and do, because there is much less set up and clean up, but I feel like that is part of the charm with painting. Mixing your paint, having to be more thoughtful because you don’t have a control z, and just the physical feedback painting with a brush are all things I really enjoy when making art. 

 How do you see art playing a role in your future?
I want to go to school for art - If I can be doing art full time and be self sustainable, that’s my dream. I really want to do it for the rest of my life and it is my goal to make a living from it. 

What piece are you most proud of?
I am most proud of a self portrait entitled Tongue I painted with acrylics. I am proud of the way that I used color and a dynamic pose to express myself. 

What technique do you find the most challenging?
Watercolor is the most challenging for me. It is hard to know where to start, how much water to use, and it’s just really hard to make convincing shapes and colors. I can’t wrap my head around artists who will start a watercolor piece with a bunch of random splotches of color and transform it into a cohesive picture. 

What goals do you have for yourself? Is there something you’d really like to paint or create but haven’t done before?
I want to paint a mural somewhere- most of my art tends to be small and not take more than a few days to create. I want to work on a project that’s way bigger in size than what I usually do, and I want to be able to spend a lot of time on it. Even if it’s just a mural on my bedroom wall, it is something I want to accomplish and work on. 

JP Kinney ’23 paints his future bright

   Lasting the entirety of the week of October 31, PHS’ second annual Instant Decision Day College Fair aimed to lower the barriers associated with the process of applying to college. This event was open for all current seniors to participate in; students were able to sign up for fifteen-minute time slots between nine a.m. and one p.m. each day. By the end of the week, close to eighty appointments had been made, with some students receiving non-binding acceptances from as many as seven colleges. 
   An Instant Decision Day College Fair was held last year as well, but at a much smaller scale. With just four participating schools, the organizers hoped to gauge how the event would be received by students. Following its success, the event expanded into a full-fledged fair this year with more than twenty schools, including many in-state colleges, one out-of-state college, and two HBCUs.  
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   “We were lucky that we had so many colleges willing to participate,” said Nipurna Shah, a College and Career counselor at PHS who helped organize the event. “I think it was a win-win on both ends. It was a win for us and our students, but it was also a win for some colleges that might not ordinarily have come to Princeton to recruit in the past.”
   In preparation for their appointments, students were required to submit an application through the Common Application to the colleges in question at least five days prior to their meeting. Transcripts and recommendation letters were also required, meaning that in some scenarios, students would have to coordinate with their teachers in order to make sure that those were ready. The prior submission of their documents would make sure that the student’s application could be reviewed by a representative of the college before the fair. 
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   During the meeting itself, the representative of the college would have a conversation with the student about their goals and their plans for the future. Then, the representatives would notify the student on the spot whether or not they were admitted into the college. 
   “I think it was an overwhelming success,” said Shah. “I don't have the exact number of acceptances yet, but a very large number of our students were accepted.”
   The organizers of the fair tried their best to make the event an inclusive, positive environment for all students. The event was located upstairs in the new wing, which the organizers filled with college-themed decorations and banners. Their efforts allowed the fair to be an impactful experience for many students.
   “It's been awesome. You know, the students come and they're very grateful, and it takes a whole village to help them get here and apply, but they also have to put themselves out there. When they get accepted, we cheer and we take photos. I think it's been life-changing.” said Martha Blandford, a Career and College counseling intern at PHS and an organizer of the event. 
   Sofia Sotomayor ’23, one of the attendees of the Instant Decision Day college fair, has had no regrets about going. She heard about the event from one of her teachers and signed up alongside a couple of her friends. While she doesn’t plan on stopping her college search here, she is glad to have been able to get a couple applications out of the way early. 
   “I signed up for two schools, Drew and Rider University, I got into both, which is really nice. And so you know, coming from that, I really liked it, because it gave me the opportunity to not only know the decision, but also to have the time to think if I actually wanted to go to these colleges,” Sotomayor said.
   Putting on an event like this was no easy task, requiring coordination from a large number of people including students, teachers, administrators, cafeteria staff, and many more. In the end, however, the success of this year’s fair has ensured that plans for next year are already in the works. 
  “We're really excited. We're planning on full-fledged doing this again next year,” said Blanford. “We obviously learned a few things, just in terms of logistics, and I have a better plan even for next year. But we are absolutely intending on doing this again.” 

With over twenty participating schools, PHS’ instant decision day college fair returns bigger than ever 

   With the holiday season approaching fast, the Princeton Public Schools district has announced an early gift for its students. A four-month-old Goldendoodle puppy, named “Tiger'' by students at the elementary schools, is currently in the process of becoming a certified therapy dog. Rotating through the elementary schools and visiting the middle and high school occasionally, Tiger hopes to positively benefit the Princeton Public School students through mental engagement and emotional support. 
   “Tiger is going to be able to come in and visit students at the elementary, middle, and high schools,” said Sarah Moore, the PPS Supervisor of Elementary Education. “Therapy pets help lower our cortisol levels and help us feel less stressed out. For younger students, it can help with reading engagement.”
   Growing up as a single child on a farm, Moore had spent much of her childhood around animals, whether it be the dogs and cats in the house or the horses she rode. The environment filled with animals had allowed her to see all of the positive benefits that animals can bring, and has been a huge factor in her initiative to bring Tiger to the district.
   “I have spent a lot of my childhood around animals and saw the therapeutic benefits they had,” said Moore. “So I wanted to be able to bring some of that benefit to Princeton!”
   Although Tiger is her first official therapy dog, fostering dogs is no foreign concept for Moore. Currently, she helps take in foster dogs for the Trenton Animal Shelter and has been doing so for years. Her previous experiences have allowed for a smoother transition as she takes on the new initiative. 
   “We have dogs pretty frequently that come in for some short-term fosters,” said Moore. “So the idea of training is not new to me, but Tiger is my first official therapy dog.” 

   Despite Tiger’s training being far from over, he has already made progress. His friendly demeanor and calm temperament make him perfect for an elementary school. Though adjusting to his new, busy environment takes time, Tiger is already doing some on-site training. 
   “[Tiger] comes into Valley Road on Fridays to work on some training in buildings,” said Moore. “There aren’t any students … so he can get used to the different textures of floors and being in and out of buildings. He’s done really well with that.”
   While Moore is taking on a current initiative to help the students of the Princeton Public Schools District, her journey started long ago. After studying English as well as deaf and hard of hearing education at The College of New Jersey, as well as participating frequently in the deaf-blind project there, she saw an opportunity to combine her two areas of expertise. 
   Moore was able to use her experience with animals and the deaf-blind community to bring in Tiger who, although not specifically trained for blind or deaf service, still requires similar training when going through certification to be able to positively interact with elementary school children. 
   “I have worked with some people who are deaf-blind who sometimes used seeing eye dogs. A therapy dog is a little different in its purpose, but still falls under that umbrella of service animal,”Moore said. 
   When Tiger isn’t busy visiting schools and helping students, he enjoys napping on the couch, eating peanut butter, and playing with his favorite toy: a stuffed animal Hedwig from Harry Potter. 
   Although Tiger will be spending most of his time at the elementary schools, his visits to the middle and high schools on Fridays will be something to look forward to for all PPS students. Andre Penn ’23, a student school board representative who was able to meet Tiger at a board meeting, believes that Tiger is going to really help out the district as a whole. 
   “Dogs are very comforting … and I think it’ll be good for the district and good for people’s mental health to have access to a dog,” said Penn. “We’re trying to make sure that the dog is coming to PHS on a regular basis.” 

PPS welcomes a new therapy dog, named “Tiger” by students

   As announced in the Chmiel Spiel on November 2, a number of new security measures will soon be introduced at PHS, all with the goal of increasing student safety. Along with requiring all students and staff to wear ID badges, these new measures will prepare the school for an emergency by ensuring that all of the school’s doors and windows are numbered.
   These changes were not prompted by any particular emergency, but are meant to improve the general safety of the school for everyone. PHS Assistant Principal Rashone Johnson stresses that he and the administration strive to make safety a priority for everyone at PHS. 
   “Everything that we do we’re doing for the safety of the entire building … It’s not just one group of kids, we’ve got over 2,000 people that we’re trying to make sure are staying safe,” Johnson said. 
   The primary purpose of the lanyards will be to make it easier for staff to discern between students, visitors, and those who shouldn’t be in the building. Students will be given a colored lanyard and visitors a differently-colored lanyard so that staff can easily tell the difference between the two. 
   According to Johnson, the lanyards will also make it easier for teachers to take attendance by letting students quickly record their attendance using student ID badges.
   “Once we evolve, [students] will have the ability to tap into the rooms that [they are] going to for attendance…We'd be able to see where everybody is, and then we'll be able to sooner know who’s here and who’s not here, accountability-wise, so it makes everything happen a lot quicker,” Johnson said. 
   Another new security measure is that numbers are going to be assigned to all doors and windows, ensuring that in the case of an emergency, emergency workers are able to navigate to where they need to be as fast as possible.
   “When we’re talking about emergencies, time is extremely important, so we want [emergency workers] to be able to get to and know the situation as quickly as possible,” Johnson said. 
   The administration is attempting to have these new policies implemented as soon as possible. While the exact timing of these changes is dependent on when the supplies arrive, they hope to introduce the lanyard policy, specifically, sooner rather than later.
   Johnson hopes that the changes will be instituted smoothly and as a result, benefit PHS’s school climate. However, because of the limited amount of information that has been released about the plan, Johnson feared that it would receive some criticism. 
   Ero Christy ’25 expressed feelings that the new security measures were largely unneeded.
   “I understand that a lot of the security policies were put in place because some kids [might come] in who aren’t supposed to, but I think [the new changes] are really unnecessary … It doesn’t seem like it’s actually that much of a security issue,” Christy said.
   Koen Moulton ’23 on the other hand isn’t as worried about the changes, as long as their impact on day-to-day learning stays small. 
   “To be honest, as long as they don’t keep it too strict, then I’m okay with it, but if I have to constantly show my ID all the time, I think that would be pretty troublesome,” Moulton said. 
   In response to criticism regarding the plan, Johnson argues that student safety should be the biggest priority for the school. He hopes that going forward, students and educators alike will recognize the benefits of the new changes. 
   “We’ve heard some opinions, but everybody’s safety in the building trumps that stuff,” said Johnson.  “[Wearing a lanyard] is not as big of an ask as you might think for the safety that it increases in the building.”

New security protocals announced at PHS

  Beginning on November sixth, HackPHS 2022, a multi-day student-organized programming competition hosted at Princeton High School, brought with it more than 300 students entirely in person for the first time since the start of the COVID pandemic.
   HackPHS is free to enter and open for all students to participate in. During the event, participants are encouraged to form teams and work on a coding or robotics project of their choosing. These projects are judged at the end of the twenty-four hours, with the winners receiving a number of prizes. For participants who don’t feel as comfortable with coding, they can opt to not create a project, and instead attend a wide variety of fun, inclusive, events and lectures that take place throughout the event.
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   “I went my freshman year not having any coding knowledge at all, and I still had a bunch of fun because I was able to attend intros to languages such as Java and Python. And then also other fun activities, like a chess tournament and trivia,” said Davita Wrone ’23, a design and technology organizer for HackPHS. 
   This year’s HackPHS was successful in many ways, with over one hundred people in attendance, and an overall positive participant response. 
   “I just felt like it was really fun because I got to stay overnight and just work in the school for the entire day,” said Sophia Tsang ’23, a participant at HackPHS. “There were a lot of snacks, and a lot of events and lectures that even if you're not interested in computer science, were fun to listen to. Also just being able to look at other people's projects was really fun.”
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  While HackPHS first started as an in-person event, it was, like many other things, forced to move to an online format in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. The following year, while it returned to being held partially in person, only PHS students were allowed to attend, and many students still opted to participate virtually. HackPHS 2022 marked the first time that the event has been held fully in person since the start of the pandemic. Along with bringing back a sense of normalcy, having all of the participants in one place again had many other benefits. 
   “I think just being able to talk face to face with other students just made communication a lot easier. Also, I think people just like the experience of being able to stay overnight,” said Shrey Khetan ’24, a logistics organizer for HackPHS. “Also when you're online, it's harder to run some of the activities. So I think [being in person] makes the workshops and activities more fun.”
   Along with the return to a fully in-person format came a number of challenges for the Organizers of the event. On top of the predictable problems that come with the organization of sponsors and almost twenty unique activities, one problem stood out above the rest: turnout. 
   “This year had a smaller turnout than some of the other previous in-person years and I think that's because of those two online years. Increasing that, and getting the word out more … will probably be a way to improve,” Wrone said. 
   Aside from low attendance numbers, nothing went significantly wrong at this year’s event. Because of this, as they look into the future, the organizers of HackPHS hope to emulate the success of this year in its future installations. 
   “I think that this year was successful because everyone enjoyed their time, and we didn't have any problems,” said Khetan. “Maybe we're gonna try for next year to raise some more money so we can have some better prizes for the people. But other than that, we're probably going to follow a similar layout as we have this year.”

HackPHS returns fully in person, the first time since 2019


You  see  the  first  question  on  the  math  test  and  freeze.  You  try  to  recall  anything  —  the  notes,  the  review, the textbook problems — to help you solve the  question,  but  your  mind  remains  completely  blank. Anxiety builds and when the bell rings, you shakily hand in your work, already certain that the test did not go well for you. How much better would you feel if this one bad grade, wouldn’t affect your quarter average? Or even better, what if you were able to drop your lowest grade in every class each quarter? Everyone has bad days, and it is unfair to have one bad day affect your overall average. Occasionally, a wave of assignments and responsibilities all converge upon a single day, leaving a student with almost no time to study for that test tomorrow. If a student is consistently getting As on assignments, but one or two flunks are pulling their quarter average to a B, that is a skewed representation of their overall work that quarter. Dropping the lowest grade each quarter provides a more holistic representation of how each student is performing. Even mathematically speaking, outliers decrease the accuracy of the average. In  addition,  dropping  the  lowest  grade  can  encourage  improvement.  At  the  beginning  of  the  year, students are just getting used to the demands of a course and it is normal for a student’s first few grades to be below where they’d like it to be. Of  course  it’s  true  that  grades  aren’t  everything.  Students  should  not  be  conflating  their  self-worth  with the amount of As that they have or their ability to maintain that extolled 4.0. But for an undeniably academically motivated student body, it is still false to say that grades shouldn’t be a student’s focus or that they really don’t matter. For the college admissions process, grades still count for a significant portion of  a  student’s  application—they  affect  our  futures.  Therefore,  it’s  valid  that  grades  are  a  primary  stresser for PHS students and the school should take reasonable measures to relieve that stress. More  often  than  not,  students’  obsession  with  grades in a class surpasses their real interest in the subject,  and  this  common  mindset  results  in  less  enthusiasm in the classroom. A flunk on a large test or assignment can do serious damage to a student’s motivation  to  keep  trying.  With  the  help  of  this  policy,  students  who  would  otherwise  shy  away  from the scarier classes would have the opportunity to challenge themselves intellectually and focus on learning.  This is not to say that when students do poorly on an  assignment,  they  should  just  be  able  to  drop  it  and forget about it. On the contrary, it is crucial that they evaluate, correct, and reflect on their mistakes. Teachers should require that their students complete corrections for their assignments to ensure that they grow and improve. These policies have been effective in many English and history classes, where students are  commonly  required  to  reflect  on  their  essays,  setting them up for sucess on their next. This should be extended to all math and science classes. Instead of  feeling  the  sense  of  panic  that  a  singular  grade  can instill, students should instead feel motivated to push themselves when they don’t initially succeed.  Universities have been successful in implementing similar  grade-dropping  policies.  For  example,    Princeton University allows math students to drop two of their lowest homework grades. In fact, a 2013 study done by Raymond MacDermott demonstrated that  when  students  were  able  to  drop  their  lowest  grade, their performance on final exams improved.  Instead  of  letting  students  sulk  over  their  worst  moments, PHS should teach students to learn and grow from them. Just like how one bad time, perhaps because  of  fatigue  or  an  injury,  doesn’t  define  an  athlete’s abilities, one bad score, whether it be a test, essay or lab report,  shouldn’t define a student’s overall grade.  By  letting  students  drop  their  lowest  grade  in each class, students are less fixated on perfecting every grade, and more focused on their learning. 

How to make grades fairer

ump-backed  candidates  in  four  other  swing  states  (a  number  that  may  rise  to  five  if  Raphael  Warnock  wins   the   Georgian   runoff   in   early   December),   Democrats  have  managed  to  keep  control  of  the  Senate,   despite   both   inflation   and   Biden’s   low   approval rate being stacked against them, and the fact that  the  incumbent  party  historically  fares  terribly  in  these  elections.  The  anticipated  “red  wave”  didn’t  show  up  during  this  year’s  midterms  —  voters  were  wary  of  Republican  candidates’  lies  about  election  fraud  and  the  broadly  unpopular  reversal  of  Roe  v.  Wade,  among  other  reasons.  More  interesting,  however, are what the results of the election actually mean,  especially  in  the  context  of  our  high  school.Although plenty of students at PHS were keeping an eye on the midterm results, or at least vaguely rooting for one party to win, this support is often purely based on disliking the political party they want to see lose, or “liking” the political party they want to see win, instead of  focusing  on  the  actual  legislative  and  political  implications of the midterm results. Still, the fact that the  Democrats  won  the  Senate  this  year  will  affect  every PHS student, no matter whether they consider themselves    Republican,    Democratic,    or    neither.Let’s  start  with  the  political  implications  of  the  midterms. For PHS students who consider themselves Republican,  the  clear  shift  in  the  electorate  away  from  Trump-backed  candidates  (the  majority  of  the  candidates  for  the  US  Senate  in  swing  states  that  he  endorsed  lost)  and  the  massive,  20-point  victory  of  Ron  Desantis  (who  is  considered  a  major  rival  to  Trump  for  the  2024  candidacy)  in  the  Florida  gubernatorial   race   means   that   their   party   is   on   rocky  footing.  The  night  after  the  Senate  went  to  the   Democrats,   Republican   senators   from   many   states  that  voted  solidly  for  Trump  in  2020  sought  to  distance  their  party  from  the  former  president.  The   reason   Trump-backed   candidates   lost   in   battleground  states  is  the  same  reason  that  it’s  good  for  everyone  at  PHS  that  they  did  —  they  parroted  the lie that the 2020 election was stolen and planned to  restrict  free  elections  in  their  own  states.  The  Republican   party   has   been   spreading   autocratic   rhetoric  since  Trump  lost  in  2020,  culminating  in  the insurrection on January 6 last year and the rise of political violence across the board, such as the brutal attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of the Democratic Speaker  of  the  House.  In  order  for  our  democracy  to   function,   which   any   student   at   PHS   would   agree  is  important  (look  to  Russia  for  an  example  of   what   happens   when   it   doesn’t),   Republicans   needed  a  clear  refutation  of  their  election  lies  at  the  ballot  box,  and  the  midterms  gave  them  just  that.From  a  policy  standpoint  too,  the  midterms  are  consequential  at  PHS.  Even  though  the  Republicans  narrowly took the House, a Democratic majority in the Senate means three things for President Biden. First, he can block Republican legislation that could’ve been passed if the GOP took both the House and the Senate. That’s important because Republicans would’ve tried to both overturn some of Biden’s previous legislation.This includes his groundbreaking climate legislation, which  will  help  to  ensure  that  everyone  at  PHS  inherits  a  world  that’s  not  too  hot  to  support  life,  as  well  as  bills  like  the  Inflation  Reduction  Act,  which  caps the price for medicines that many students need, and the biggest gun violence reduction act in 30 years, a  topic  that’s  unfortunately  on  many  high  schooler’s  minds.  Additionally,  Republicans  could  have  passed  their  own  legislation  with  control  of  both  chambers  of  Congress,  with  potentially  disastrous  results  for  students   at   PHS.   Republican   states   have   passed   policies  that  restricted  rights  for  LGBT  students,  restricted   voting   access   for   eligible   seniors,   and,   most  importantly,  censured  teachers  from  talking  about  important  issues  like  gender  identity  or  race.But    perhaps    the    most    important    impact    of    Democrats  winning  the  Senate  is  one  that  is  lesser  known.  Senate  Minority  Leader  Mitch  McConnell  warned  that  if  Republicans  took  the  Senate,  they  would  block  Democratic  judges  from  confirmation.  Already,   during   Biden’s   first   two   years   in   office,   Democrats  confirmed  84  federal  judges,  and  since  they   still   control   the   Senate   after   the   midterms,   that  momentum  is  unlikely  to  stop.  Biden’s  judges  are  much  more  racially  and  ideologically  diverse  than   Trump’s,   which   is   significant   because   they   serve   for   life,   ruling   on   our   nation’s   laws   for   generations.  That  means  that  students  at  PHS  will  benefit  from  rulings  favoring  climate  bills,  social  security  nets,  and  the  bodily  autonomy  of  women.  Politics can be dismal and outright scary. However, the state of affairs in our country is something for PHS students  to  research  and  reckon  with,  not  shy  away  from. Hopefully, this article has made the complicated world of politics a bit more digestible. But we should all put in the effort to learn about the implications that elections  have  on  our  everyday  lives,  because  when  people care about the politics that surround them, they are able to make decisions both at the ballot box and in their everyday lives that benefit those around them.

A guide to the midterms at PHS

America has become notorious in the past few  years  for  the  almost  weekly  occurrence  of  school  shootings.  Even  in  our  town  of  Princeton,  where  violent  crimes  are  rare,  school  safety  has  begun  to  become  more  of  a  worry.  As  such,  it’s  completely  understandable  that PHS administrators have decided to double down on its security policies. For example, the school has begun to actually enforce its policy of prohibiting non-seniors from leaving campus and  is  implementing  a  measure  which  will  require  students  to  wear  lanyards  for identification. After all, PHS cannot legally  allow  students  under  18  to  leave  campus.  Ultimately,  though  these  policies  are  well-intentioned,  they overlook one essential question: Why do students want to leave in the first place?      Although being on the campus comes with its positives, among them friends and  extracurriculars,  most  of  us  no  doubt associate PHS with stress, schoolwork, and the pressure from our families or ourselves to be successful. Unfortunately, being in school for eight hours a day can take a toll  on  students’  mental  health.  As  burnout progresses over months of the same monotonous routines, it becomes more and more difficult for  us  to  enjoy  going  to  school.  So, it’s no surprise that many PHS students want an escape from the building, allowing them to change up their schedule. The truth is that even with stricter security policies in place, students still find ways to leave during school hours. Unless the  school  wishes  to  station  vigilant security guards at every entrance  and  exit  and  institute  harsh penalties for students who choose to leave campus, students will continue to leave. However,  there  is  a  better  way  to  prevent  students  from  leaving  than  instituting  a  kind  of  border  patrol.  Such excessively strict measures would do more to arouse animosity  against  the  administration  than  to  protect  students.  Instead,  we  should  find  a  middle  ground.  The  school should institute moderately strict security measures, such as the addition of just a few more guards, in combination with a genuine and systematic effort to  make school a place that students actually want to be. On  the  whole,  PHS  should  make  the  school  more  amenable to students who wish to escape from the often-stressful high school academic environment. That means that the school must try to come up with better ways for us non-seniors to be less  stressed,  especially  while  on  campus.    For  example,  the  administration  can  use  the sprawling new wing or one of our three courtyards  to  create  a  sort  of  “common  room”, with activities like a Ping-Pong table or Spikeball sets. This way, the school could be  made  to  feel  more  relaxing  and  inviting.  Furthermore,  private  study  spaces  could  be  created  to  encourage productivity during free periods, and the Tiger Cafe’s  hours  could  be  expanded  to  provide  hungry  or  decaffeinated students with a mid-day boost. These policies, along with others not listed here, would allow us to have a better relationship with PHS’s campus, and hopefully help us non-seniors feel a little bit less anxious. Of course, it’s understandable that PHS wants to keep its students safe, which includes keeping its younger students on campus during times they don’t have class and making sure that nobody can get into the building unless they’re a  member  of  PHS’s  community.  Unfortunately,  however,  in the absence of further measures to improve the school environment, the addition of more easily evaded security measures are a waste of the school’s resources. If the school truly  wants  to  prevent  students  from  leaving  campus,  it  should  pair  reinforced  security  measures  with  new  in-school amenities that would help students manage time or give them a break from the often stifling environment of PHS. As such, the administration would be knocking out two birds with one stone—one being school stress, and the other being school security. 

Improving PHS from inside out

Favorite songs to listen to in the hallway 

PHS Takes: Favorite songs to listen to in the hallway 

 This month, an impressive congregation of global leaders from over one hundred countries met for the 2022 United Nations  Climate  Change  Conference  (COP  27)  occurred  earlier  this  month,  with  ideas  about  how  to  deal  with  concerns  such  as  the  emission  of  greenhouse  gasses  and  the  steadily  increasing  number  of  natural  disasters  being  at  the  forefront  of  most  conversations.  The  conference  mainly  addressed  how  to  deal  with  climate  issues  on  a  national level rather than a localized scale, but in actuality, state governments and communities, like high schools, are instrumental  when  it  comes  to  combating  global warming.          Climate  action  shouldn’t  just  be  up  to  the  leaders  and  politicians  who  attended  COP  27.  Everyone,  including  students  at  Princeton  High  School,  should  engage  in  active conversations regarding both climate issues   and   solutions   for   those   pressing   problems. This starts with education, which plays a critical role in preparing students for participation in  civic  society.  Education  is  critical  to  any  social  cause  because  it  increases  awareness  of  the  issues  at  hand,  spurring action, and eventually, change.      Curriculums  must  first  stress  that  action  is  needed  immediately. For many, it seems that all we can do is sit back and watch. The warming of the Earth is frequently portrayed as a distant phenomenon. When climate issues are being reported on, a deluge of far-off dates is thrown at us. Everything is discussed in terms of deadlines, creating the image of an inevitable doomsday when climate change finally  triggers  the  “end  of  the  world,”  instead  of  as  an  ongoing, malleable process of warming.      As high school students, most of us are not thinking so far into the future. We can not fully imagine a time, decades from  now,  when  Earth’s  situation  is  completely  different.  Most  young  adults  are  more  concerned  with  short-term  priorities such as academics and extracurricular activities. It’s  easy  to  believe  that  if  we  can’t  see  the  impacts  of  something  right  away,  it’s  not  worth  paying  attention  to.  Pretty much every student at PHS would much rather ace that  math  test  or  win  that  soccer  game  than  even  begin  to  ponder  our  ecological  footprint.  As  a  result,  we  delay  taking action on climate change.   The practical applications of climate change are  far-reaching  in  subjects  such  as  math,  art,  economics,  and  science,  to  name  a  few.  To  spark  such  conversations  about  climate,  educators    should    strive    to    incorporate    current events and climate-related issues into their  classes,  lessons,  and  projects.    Global  warming isn’t a topic that should be relegated to a single week-long unit in a middle school science class. Schools  should  teach  about  how  we  –  as  students  –  can  contribute  to  reducing  or  stopping  climate  change  and  embrace  sustainable  practices.  They  should  teach  us  how  devastating the results will be if we do not begin to change.   They should not, however, make these lessons boring! The same  way  that  PHS  has  injected  readings  and  reckonings  with   LGBTQ   issues   in   some   assignments   for   science   classes, they could encourage teachers to create innovative lessons involving climate change. A statistics class centered around analyzing the economic damage of a hurricane, or an  English  class  dissecting  an  Oliver  Tearle  poem  about  global  warming,  would  manage  to  both  educate  students  about climate issues and offer them new avenues to learn about existing subject material.      Teachers  should  help  students  understand  the  severity  and  effects  of  climate  change.  Only    through  addressing  the  issue  head  on,  by  putting  an  emphasis  on  education  about  both  its  causes  and  effects,  can  PHS  help  raise  the  awareness  that  will  eventually  cause  its  students  to  take  action.  PHS  has  a  moral  obligation  to  help  us  combat  the  biggest  problem  that  Earth  faces  today.  As  António  Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations put it  at  COP  27,  “We  are  in  a  battle  for  our  lives.  But  it  is  a  battle we can win.

PHS’ curriculums should involve climate change

“Diversity is our power,” read a sign held up by a protest-er outside the United States Supreme Court on October 31.  They  were  protesting  for  one  specific  reason  —  the  Supreme Court seems poised to scrap affirmative action, a series of policies passed by the government that man-dates that colleges accept more diverse pools of students. Within a school as academically competitive as PHS, con-tention surrounding the subject is undeniable. Students and  faculty  at  PHS  and  the  Princeton  community  as  a  whole should refine our understanding of the topic and understand why it is such a shame that the Supreme Court will probably rule affirmative action as unconstitutional. We need to find a way to reckon with the opportunities that  such  a  decision  would  take  away  from  minorities,  because the loss of affirmative action would also result in a  devastating  loss  of  equality  and  diversity  in  America’s  elite colleges, and, by extension, its eventual leadership.  Many assume that the anti-discrimination laws the U.S. has,  which  protect  people  from  explicit  discrimination  on  the  basis  of  race,  gender,  and  sexuality,  are  enough,  but  that  is  far  from  the  truth.  Those  who  belong  to  un-derrepresented  racial  minorities  still  experience  great  inequality  on  college  campuses  and  private  workplaces.  In order for this gap in enrollment and hiring to slowly close,  affirmative  action  should  not  be  struck  down.  A  study  by  Georgetown  University  in  2021  found  that  11  percent of Latinx people and 14 percent of Black people over  the  age  of  25  have  a  bachelor’s  degree,  compared  to  21  percent  of  white  people  and  31  percent  of  Asian  people.  This  discrepancy  also  resulted  in  lower  average  yearly salaries for Black and Latinx people. When college admission  offices  take  affirmative  action  into  consid-eration,  they  also  help  to  decrease  those  problems.  The  wealth gap will only increase without affirmative action.   Already, affirmative action has been made illegal in pub-lic universities across several states. This has left some top universities from states like California and Michigan fac-ing massive declines in student diversity. In 2021, report-ers at The New York Times found that one such school, the  University  of  California,  Berkeley,  had  a  freshman  class  of  6,931  students,  and  of  those  students,  only  258  were  Black  and  27  were  Native  American.  Clearly,  without affirmative action, the diversity of student bod-ies  at  top  colleges  across  the  country  would  plummet.    In  2022,  The  Daily  Princetonian  found  that  most  Princeton  University  students  are  in  strong  support  of  affirmative  action.  A  group  known  as  AASA  (Asian  American  Students  Association)  that  has  led  a  peti-tion  to  voice  their  support  for  affirmative  action.  PHS  students  should  also  make  their  voices  heard  about  the  subject,  or  at  least  find  ways  to  help  increase  di-versity  wherever  they  go  to  college,  which  will  likely  be  after  affirmative  action  is  ruled  unconstitutional.   Proponents of what will likely be the Supreme Court’s ruling  on  the  subject  claim  that  income-based  affir-mative  action  will  do  more  good  than  race-based  af-firmative   action.   Unfortunately,   there’s   no   guarantee   that  such  policies  will  be  passed.  But  additionally,  low  income  white  students  do  much  better  on  the  SAT  than  their  black  counterparts,    and  also  make  up  much  more  of  the  low  income  population  (in  sheer  num-bers),  which  is  why  the  Journal  of  Blacks  in  Higher  Education  finds  in  2014  that  income  based  affirmative  action  would  ensure  that  white  students  “continue  to  hold  a  huge  admission  advantage  over  Black  students.”    In  reality,  PHS  students  can‘t  do  much  about  the  fact  that  the  Supreme  Court  will  likely  rule  affirma-tive  action  unconstitutional.  They  can,  however,  real-ize  how  the    decision  will  be  harmful,  and  strive  to  make   sure   their   classes,   extracurriculars,   and   jobs are accurately reflecting the diversity of our nation. 

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