 PHS Python and AP Computer Science Principles teacher Edward Yin is three months 
into his second year of teaching at PHS, while simultaneously studying at Rutgers to 
obtain his masters degree in Public Informatics. Yin grew up in the neighboring town 
of Plainsboro, and as a child wasn’t interested in computer science.


“I actually hated [coding] a lot as a child — my dad was always like, ‘You have to learn 
JavaScript, you [have to] learn this, you [have to] learn that’ ... I'd be like, ‘Dad, I don't 
know what I'm doing, you [have to] help me out.’ And he'd be like, ‘No, you [have to] 
watch videos’… He didn't [really] teach me anything, so ... I [hated] coding,” said Yin. 


Yin continued his education at Rutgers University, where he graduated in 2024 with 
a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. His distaste for computer science began 
to soften as his major in chemical engineering introduced the usage of MATLAB, a 
programming language developed by the company MathWorks that is used to analyze 
data, develop algorithms, and create models.


“[MATLAB] was a pain ... to use, but also [I] realized [I’m] pretty good at it. I [was] 
getting my questions done pretty quickly It is very logical [and] intuitive to me. And 
at that point I said okay, I’m gonna do a [Computer Science] minor as well,” said Yin. 


Following the advice of his computer science professor, after receiving his bachelor's 
degree Yin took the initiative to reach out to apply for an opening in PHS’s computer 
science program. 


“[The professor] sent a batch email to the entire student body [of his Introduction to 
Data Science class], which is like hundreds of students ... But he just batched it to all his 
former students, which were any current graduates ... or like master students [saying] if 
you want to do this, just do this. So I was like, alright, cool.” said Yin. 


Yin currently teaches Python Programming and AP Computer Science Principles. 
His primary teaching goal is to balance between having a fun classroom environment 
while at the same time still making sure his students learn the necessary skills involved 
with computer science.


“We're here to have fun. I'm trying to make the class fun, trying to make [computer 
science] approachable. I want to make sure I give out as much information as I can ... to 
teach the most I can. [There] definitely is more ... aggressive push in the sense of: let's 
get stuff done. [But] at the same time, though, I also understand you are human [and] 
you've got to chill and relax,” said Yin.

 
In addition to teaching and studying for his masters, Yin is a lifeguard and swim 
instructor with Princeton Fitness and Wellness at Plainsboro. He also enjoys spending 
time with his friends playing games. 


“We started playing this new card game called Riftbound. We're pretty big card game 
aficionados, so we like [games] like Magic [The] Gathering [and] Riftbound,” said Yin. 
“We play video games on the side too.”


Yin also bring his commitment to fostering personal connection into the classroom.


“I think the human connection is the most important thing,” said Yin. “Helping others 
in general, I feel [has] always been a core principle of most forms of philosophy ... through 
the collective experiences, being alive, going around talking to people; you kind of build 
up that feeling [that] community is important ... [and that] It's a good thing to benefit 
those around me, because then it's going to benefit me [or] another

Yin discusses insertion principles with Bryce Capone ’28 in AP Computer Science 
Principles.

PHS Profile: Edward Yin

On December 1, research teachers James Smirk, Jennifer Smolyn, and Insu Yi will 
release applications to the two-year research program, which consists of two elective 
classes at PHS that allow students to learn how to research, create and conduct a project, 
and compete and publish in various competitions and journals. 


In order to apply, prospective students must submit a short document summarizing 
their research interests, ask a teacher for a letter of recommendation, and complete a 
problem solving task in groups. First year students enroll in research methods, where 
they learn how to read scientific papers and complete the year with a grant-writing 
project that details the significance of their project and their procedure for carrying it 
out. Second year students enroll in research applications accelerated, where they work 
with a mentor to collect data and write a research paper.


James Smirk, one of the research teachers along with Jennifer Smolyn and Insu Yi, 
believes that the program is valuable because of the problem-solving skills and persistence 
students develop.


“I think one of the unique things about research is [that] you’re going to run into ... 
difficulties, and you really have to think deeply and meaningfully to try to overcome them 
to get to where you want to go. I think that has a lot of value outside of the academic 
sphere,” said Smirk. 


### Eleanor Nayden

On October 16, 2025, Eleanor Nayden ’26 published 
her 19-page research paper “Impact of Political Allegiance 
on H-1B Visa Acceptances to the US: An Analysis of the 
Relationship Between UNGA Voting Alignment and H-1B 
Visa Acceptances to the United States” in the Social Science 
Research Network (SSRN) — a culmination of her three 
years in the PHS Research Program. 


Nayden’s research analyzes the relation between 
countries’ political alignment to the United States and 
the acceptance rates for a country’s H1B visa applicants. 
Nayden was inspired to pursue this topic because while it 
combined her interests in economics and political science, 
it also held personal significance for her. 


“[The] entire intention with [my] research is to combine 
all my passions and all my areas of interest. I am an 
entrepreneur, I founded a nonprofit and a socially-conscious 
business, and my whole idea is to use entrepreneurship for 
social impact,” said Nayden. “[Because] my parents are 
immigrants, I see the influence of immigrants, not only 
when I read research and literature, but also through the 
impact that they amake to the U.S. economy.”


In addition to the mentorship she received from Louis 
Maiden, an empirical researcher at Harvard Business 
School, who guided her on research methodology and 
data organization methods, Nayden also credits the PHS 
research program for making her project possible.


“For my first year, [I] had Ms. Katz before she was the 
science department supervisor. I was one to ask so many 
questions and she answered all of them. Mr. Yi has been 
such a help ... he's very well regarded in the research world, 
so he's helped me through publication and applying to 
different journals and conferences ... I had Smirk junior 
year. He helped me start Stata [and] get funding for [it].”

 
Nayden looks forward to soon publishing her paper in 
the International Journal of Research and Innovation in 
Social Science, and continuing research in college


### Angelica Hu

Inspired by reading about sunscreen created from 
pineapples, Angelica Hu ’27 is researching plant-based 
sunscreen through the PHS Research Program. 


“These two compounds I'm looking at, bromelain and 
quercetin ... one's a protein, the other one is [basically] a 
plant pigment, haven't really been researched together ... I 
want to [do that],” said Hu. “It's going to have applications 
in more natural products, because sunscreens [overall] use 
chemical active ingredients, which can be harmful.”


Hu credits the introductory class of the program, 
Research Methods, in helping her distill her many interests 
into her current research topic. The summer assignment 
for incoming research students is to create an annotated 
bibliography in which they read articles about their topic 
of interest.


“[Ms. Smolyn’s] great at giving you the resources [and] 
the basics ... and then it's for you to kind of decide on 
what you want to do. There aren't many restrictions on the 
assignments. For example, for the [annotated bibliography 
summer assignment], you [can] do research on anything 
that you want,” said Hu. 


Hu is currently taking Research Applications Accelerated 
with Dr. Insu Yi. The class is much more self guided than 
Research Methods, which Hu says is helpful because it 
allows her to focus on her own personal project. 


“I scan [to see] if my orders have come in yet. I'm working 
on my methodology [right now] — I'm doing research on 
the equipment I'm going to use. I also like to chat with my 
classmates: I chat with my partner about progress [and] what 
we're going to do. I also [work on] emailing my mentees 
or emailing my mentors,” said Hu.


In addition to the analytical skills she learned, Hu also 
finds research beneficial for pursuing her passions. 
 “You get to learn how to make graphs from really complex 
data sets. You also get to explore [what] you're interested 
in [for] your career ... It helps you with communication 
[too] by contacting others. It's also ... your project. You do 
what you want to do.”


### Joanna Hou

Joanna Hou ’26 combined her interests in machine 
learning and cell behavior in her research project, which 
predicts whether certain drugs used to target age-related 
diseases can eliminate senescent cells that release harmful 
chemicals. 


“These anti-aging compounds are called senolytics, and 
what they do in the body is that they selectively target 
and then eliminate senescent cells ... [that] spread [bad] 
chemicals ... especially because senescent cells are tied to 
age related diseases such as Alzheimer’s [and] arthritis,” 
said Hou. “I took the data set that the authors of the paper 
compiled ... and I trained a ... machine learning model.”


Hou credits her mentor Lie Xie, a computer science 
professor at Northeastern University, for helping her with 
the modeling aspect of her research.


“The data set that I used from the authors was very 
imbalanced, meaning that it didn’t have a lot of actual drugs 
that were senolytics, because it’s still a pretty new field ... 
machine learning models generally require larger, larger 
amounts of data [and] I didn’t have a lot of senolytic data 
to train my model on. But eventually, I just looked around 
... and I used another training technique,” said Hou. 


Hou also credits the PHS Research Program for 
introducing her to the fundamentals of research. 


“I was introduced to ... how to read a study, how to analyze 
data, and how to write grant proposals. [And] after that we 
figured out what we wanted to do, and we would ... do that 
in [our] junior and senior years,” said Hou. 


Though Hou’s research has taken her deep into the 
intersection of technology and biology, she emphasized 
that innate talent for science is not the key to success.


 “I think what’s most important in research isn’t really ... 
natural talent for science, it’s how well you work with other 
people, how well you communicate with your mentors, 
and also how much you want to do the project, because I 
think it’s about your passion,” said Hou. “[And] with my 
own project ... there were problems where my model just 
wouldn’t work ... but you just keep pushin


Joanna Hou stands in front of her scientific poster for the 
research program’s “three minute thesis” presentation.

Flash Feature: PHS's research program

From November 1 to November 11, around 30 Italianlearning PHS students immersed themselves in Italy’s 
culture through scavenger hunts, pasta-making classes, and 
classes at Liceo Scientifico Statale “Manfredo Fanti,” a high 
school in Carpi, Italy. The students traveled to the regions of 
Tuscany and Marche, visiting culturally significant duomos 
and the Ferrari Museum, before spending the rest of the 
trip with their host families in Carpi. 


For Italian teacher Laura Francolino, one of the highlights 
of the trip was a scavenger hunt in Mantua, a small city 
in Northern Italy, that both PHS and Italian students 
participated in.


“They had to sing a song, so the Italians taught the children 
from PHS how to sing Rigoletto, from [the] famous opera 
La Donna Immobile. Then they had to go into a store, 
[and] come back with a tortellino. They were on their own 
throughout the city of Mantua,” said Francolino. “We met 
back at a certain spot, they had turned in everything, and 
then the kids ate by the lake … their host families had 
packed them lunch.”


PHS students also had the opportunity to attend their host 
student’s school, Liceo Fanti, for several days. Hawthorne 
Warren ’26, an Italian IV student and participant on the 
trip, noted differences in school culture between Liceo 
Fanti and PHS. 


“The entire school, almost, biked … it was like a flock 
of bikes coming in. And their classes, they stayed in the 
same class [for] the whole day. [School] only goes until 
one o’clock, so they would have three classes a day and 
the teacher would come each hour [and] switch out. They 
stayed with [the] same class all five years of high school,” 
said Warren. 


Though Francolino noticed a significant language barrier 
between PHS students and their Italian host family at the 
beginning of the trip, by the end of the trip she observed 
a much closer connection. In the past, Francolino has had 
students who stayed in touch with their Italian host family 
for several years.


“Everybody was crying before we left. I even got tearyeyed, even though we know they’re coming in February. 


The families all came out to say goodbye – they were crying 
as well. Before we left… they went on each other’s social 
media to check out whatever [online] pages your generation 
has,” said Francolino.


PHS students primarily spent the second half of the trip 
with their host families, but the trip also allowed them to 
connect with the entire community of Carpi as well. 


“In Carpi, they have these centers where the senior 
citizens, [who] are very vibrant, make pasta and share their 
skills with the younger generations. We met women who 
showed us how to make tortellini. And actually we made 
tortellini with them, then they cooked it for us, and we had 
this big goodbye dinner,” said Francolino. 


In the months before the trip, Francolino was in constant 
contact with her counterparts in Italy, planning activities 
and pairing students from PHS and Italy together. But 
despite the challenges (including a canceled Uber ride 
at 5am on their last day), Francolino says it was worth it.
“I love to be in Italia,” said Francolino. “One of my students 
came up to me before I left, when we were in the airport, 
and said, ‘I understand why you cry every time you leave,

PHS students tour the factory of Caseificio Oratorio 
San Giorgio, a Parmigiano Reggiano producer in Carpi.

PHS students travel to Italy 

### Dafna Kendal 

Dafna Kendal — current president and member of the 
Princeton Public School’s Board of Education, co-founder 
of the Princeton Mobile Food Pantry, and little league 
softball coach — was re-elected for her fourth three-year 
term in November. In her 9 years on the Board, Kendal has 
worked on initiatives such as delaying PHS’s start time and 
searching for PPS’s current superintendent, Dr. Michael 
LaSusa. Kendal cited this transition in administration as 
a primary reason for her decision to re-run.


 “I would say I want a smooth transition for the district, 
not just for Dr. LaSusa. First of all, I’m a known quantity ... 
I think people know that I’m trying to do the right thing 
and that goes a long way,” said Kendal. 


Kendal, a graduate of Lehigh University and Seton Hall 
Law School, practiced as a regulatory and compliance 
lawyer before and after joining the Board. Her motivation 
to join the Board came from witnessing conflicts between 
the teacher’s union and the Board. 


“In 2011, when I dropped my kids off at school, the 
teachers were outside with signs and they didn’t have a 
contract. And this went on and off for three years, and it 
got really bad. I thought ... I could make the relationship 
between the Board and the union better [and] more 
collaborative ... and I think I’ve done that,” said Kendal. 


For her upcoming term, funding for the school district 
remains a main concern. But Kendal hopes the payment 
in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreements passed in May of this 
year, and possibly similar agreements in the future, can 
help alleviate this issue. 


“We [collaborated] with the municipality council; they’re 
going to share a PILOT for one of the apartment buildings.
We’re one of only a handful of districts [in New Jersey] 
that has that kind of arrangement with their town,” said 
Kendal. “[The Annual Service Charge] goes outside the two 
percent cap, and it’s money that might have been spent by 
the municipality … that’s now earmarked for education ... 
I guess we could look to some more of these agreements.”
Throughout these changes, Kendal continues to 
emphasize the importance of transparency and the 
representation of all voices in the Board: students, teachers, 
and administrators alike. 


“We try to make [every decision] with the best interest 
of the students in mind. And like everyone else ... we’re 
not infallible. When mistakes are made, we try to learn 
from those mistakes,” said Kendal. “But I think PPS is in 
a good place. I think we have great leadership, and I think 
our values are aligned with the Board and administration 
of what’s important


### Erica Snyder
From teaching United States history and health 
education in Ecuador to directing Cherry Hill Nursery 
School, Erica Snyder has been in education for her entire 
life. Snyder received a bachelor’s degree in secondary 
education from DePaul University and a master’s degree 
in instructional technology from East Carolina University, 
and participated in the Japan Fulbright Memorial Teacher 
Program. 


“I was a 9th grade world studies and English teacher. 
Then after I left the classroom, I was an instructional coach 
for teachers [in] project based learning schools… and 
now being the director at Cherry Hill, I’m with a different 
group of kids, and no one’s over the age of six. It’s a little 
different than high schoolers, although in some instances 
it’s very similar,” said Snyder.


Her journey in education took her to Ecuador following 
her bachelor’s degree, where she volunteered for 18 months 
teaching students from underserved communities.
“I taught ESL in [the] school — it was really awesome. 
I was there for almost 18 months, and I would encourage 
anyone to go do something international[ly] because it 
gives you a different perspective on people in the world 
and how interconnected we are,” said Snyder.


Following her husband’s retirement from the US Army, 
Snyder and her family settled in Princeton, where she began 
involving herself in the Princeton community by serving as 
co-PTO President of Community Park Elementary School. 


“I have three kids, two in elementary [school] and one 
in middle school. You’ll find me at a hockey rink or a 
soccer field or a dance class fairly regularly,” said Snyder.


The primary issue driving Snyder’s campaign was 
ensuring transparency around PPS’s use of technology. 
“I would really love to see an instructional technology 
audit done of what technologies are being used in school 
[and whether] they are being used effectively. It’s been 
five years post-covid, so at this point, having a real look 
at the broader picture of instructional technology is really 
important to me. How it was used during covid, doesn’t 
have to be how it’s used moving forward.”


Though Snyder was the only non-incumbent elected, 
she’s looking forward to the opportunity to better 
understand the district.


“I look forward to seeing [how] everything’s going to 
work with the Board and learning more about all of the 
schools in the district and their needs. It’s a giant puzzle 
trying to make it all work together,” said Snyder


### Susan Kanter
Current Vice President of the PPS’s Board of Education, 
Susan Kanter ran uncontested for her third term on 
the board earlier this November. Kanter attended 
Duke University where she majored in Economics and 
Political Science, and later worked as a Vice President 
of Operations for a multi-national firm in NYC for 23 
years. She attributes her primary focus on the Board to 
her professional background.


“[I bring] some philosophies of long-range planning, 
of … operationally making sure that we’re being as costeffective as we can while still supporting the staff and 
the students … When I got involved, we hadn’t had any 
referendums yet, so our buildings were a little in disrepair. 
It’s been another focus of mine to ensure that the district 
has worked on maintaining our buildings and keeping 
everything healthy and safe,” said Kanter. 


Since her retirement over 15 years ago, Kanter has 
dedicated her time to volunteering in Princeton. Kanter 
has served as treasurer for the 101 Fund and the Princeton 
Children’s Fund, and was a member of the Jewish Center’s 
board. Within PPS, Kanter served five years on the PTO 
Council, five years as the Princeton Middle School PTO 
Treasurer, and then seven years as the PHS PTO president. 
The PTO’s work at the high school got her interested in 
maintaining and improving students’ well-being.


“So then, when my children [graduated], I had been 
attending [Board of Education] meetings and had gotten 
interested [in joining the Board]. So I felt like, with my 
background in business and operations ... that I’d be a 
good person to be involved on the board,” said Kanter.


Now, as a current member, she decided to re-run because 
she wanted to be involved in the new opportunities for 
the Board and create progress in some of their long-term 
goals like the $89 million referendum passed last year. 
“The exciting opportunities involve welcoming a new 
superintendent and some new key staff members ... I’ve 
been very involved in long-range planning and operations,” 
said Kanter. “We passed a referendum last year, and to see 
that referendum successfully implemented over the next 
three years has been a great goal of mine.” 


In addition to helping the board with its current projects, 
Kanter wants to be involved in aiding with new challenges 
that lie ahead. 


“There’s potential cuts from the federal government 
that we may have to deal with … [There are also] the 
continuing challenges of making sure that every student 
reaches their potential and graduates from PPS with the 
skills they need for whatever future that they desire ... [and 
also that] they feel welcomed [and supported] as they go 
through challenges,” said Kanter.


Kendall brings her experiences as a regulatory and 
compliance lawyer to the Board

Board of Education members re-elected as district tackles future growth

This summer, 8th grade students attending Princeton 
Middle School had the opportunity to travel to Ecuador 
with Caminos Princeton, an Ecuador exchange program 
founded by PHS Spanish Teacher Alessandra ClemensLores and Enriqueta Alban, a Spanish teacher at 
Community Park Elementary school. 


On October 30, the same Ecuadorian students that hosted 
the now PHS students flew to Princeton and spent eight days 
at PHS learning about American culture. The Ecuadorian 
students visited places including New York City, Princeton 
University, and BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham USA, a 
large Hindu temple in Robbinsville, New Jersey.


For Alban, it’s crucial that all students are able to see 
that there’s something else beyond the world language 
classroom, both in terms of their growth as individuals 
and as global citizens.


“We truly believe that in order to understand whatever 
language that you're learning, you also need to understand 
and to be exposed to the culture. We decided to do Ecuador 
because [in] Ecuador they speak a very neutral Spanish, 
[so] it's easy for the students to understand,” said Alban.


For Edison Del Cid Gomez ’29, one of the highlights of 
the trip was going trick-or-treating in Princeton with his 
exchange student.


“We've introduced them into Halloween, because in 
Ecuador, it isn't very popular to dress up and go trick or 
treating,” said Gomez.


Alex Wayne ’29 hosted Matias Crow, and though 
Wayne only recently completed the exchange program 
this summer, he is already thinking about participating 
in another exchange program in the future.


“It's been a pleasure to have Matias at my house. It's 
helped me realize how people live outside of the United 
States. I got to see how people live in Ecuador firsthand — 
the different ways that people go about their life — and it's 
really helped expand my cultural appreciation,” said Wayne.


Crow, for his part, also enjoyed spending time in 
Princeton. Like the other Ecuadorian students on the trip, 
Crow lives in Quito, Ecuador’s capital city with over 2.8 
million residents.


“I think Princeton is a beautiful place to live, because I 
think people are very nice [to each other]. I think [PHS] 
is so big and has a lot of students, because in Ecuador, it's 
not like that,” said Crow.


Alban emphasized that the program connects 
communities in Quito and Princeton; activities such as 
service in the Amazon Rainforest strengthen cultural 
and historical appreciation across international borders.


 “We want them to experience the traditions, the culture, 
[and] the language ... my favorite part will be when I see 
our kids from Princeton able to communicate in Spanish 
to [the] locals. They're able to order what they want to 
eat [and] they're able to connect with the community,” 
said Alban. 

Ecuadorian and PHS students visit the top of Edge at 
Hudson Yards in NYC, the highest outdoor sky deck 
in the Western Hemisphere, on an excursion hosted 
by Caminos Princeton (caminos means “roads” in 
Spanish)

PHS hosts Ecuadorian students, completing the second part of Caminos Princeton

This year, PHS has seen a rise in phone pouches — pockets 
where students are required to put their phones in before and 
throughout classes. The implementation of phone pockets 
has risen along with growing concerns about phone usage 
from the community; pushed by community feedback and 
research, discussions in the district for a concrete phone 
ban or restriction policy are underway. 


“We're hoping to work collaboratively to come up with 
a policy that students understand and can get behind. The 
research [shows that] getting off ... your phone and really 
focusing with your teachers ... is what is important,” said 
Susan Kanter, a Board of Education member on the policy 
committee. “There’s a collaborative project that we hope will 
happen in the next few months with the administration.”


The potential phone ban, according to Dr. Michael 
LaSusa, Superintendent of Princeton Public Schools, 
could take one of two forms. In a bell-to-bell ban, all high 
school students would be required to store their phones in 
a compartment when entering the building and pick them 
up at the end of the day. The more lenient option would be 
a consistent ban on phone use during instructional time 
in all classes, permitting students to access their phones 
during lunch or study hall. The district purchased the phone 
pouches that now hang on the walls of all classrooms last 
year, though it is currently up to teachers to decide how 
strictly to enforce the policy. 


“I feel that it's better for more students to not have 
access at all to their phones any minute of the school day,” 
said LaSusa. “But I also think that in terms of logistics, 
management, and resources, it's much easier and more 
pragmatic in certain ways to have a [phone] restriction 
only on classroom instructional time.”


In addressing concerns that a phone ban could endanger 
students if they need to contact someone, such as their 
parents, during an emergency, LaSusa cited Jonathan Haidt’s 
book “The Anxious Generation,” which argues that phones 
have fundamentally harmed the mental health of teenagers.


“Jonathan Haidt makes the case that students are safer 
in an emergency without access to their phone because 
they should be listening to the teachers and following 
instructions,” said LaSusa. “In my last district, we did the 
type of restriction where students still could access their 
phone in an emergency from [phone] pockets.”


LaSusa also cited the New Jersey Department of 
Education's (NJDOE) policy guidance regarding phone 
bans. On October 1, 2025 the NJDOE launched the state’s 
first phone ban grant, which provides extra funding to 
schools if they enact a bell-to-bell phone ban.


“[NJDOE] recommends, essentially a bell-to-bell ban 
completely, and then, short of that, some type of restriction 
on cell phones; so with the state guidance and with all 
that we know now about cell phones and how distracting 
they can be, I think it's likely that the [Princeton Board of 
Education] will adopt some type of district level policy,” 
said LaSusa.


Principal Cecilia Birge has said that she’s received positive 
feedback from teachers regarding the phone pouches, but 
also said that she would support a phone ban if approved 
by the district.


“If there are significant offenses, and then that causes 
disciplinary action, then that gives building administration 
more authority to act upon it. For that reason, I support 
it,” said Birge.


Daniel Spitkosky ’27 is skeptical that a bell-to-bell phone 
ban would significantly improve academic performance. 


“If I had no phone, just my computer to work on an 
assignment, and I really was not interested in working on the 
assignment, I think I would find methods to procrastinate 
on the computer despite not having my phone. I think that 
not having it would potentially increase my productivity, 
but not to an enormous extent,” said Spitkovsky.


Though a final decision is likely still several months away, 
LaSusa remains confident in the success of any potential 
phone ban.


“I think that if there were to be a bell-to-bell [ban] ... 
instituted [at PHS], there'd be more social interaction 
among students, and students would come to appreciate 
that type of policy,” said LaSusa. “If the policy was more 
lenient and it was just a restriction during classroom time, 
I think most students would really have almost no problem 
with that at all, and I don't think that it would materially 
affect the culture of the building. I think either type of 
policy will actually only probably enhance the culture in 
the building.

Paula Kutin ’27 puts her phone in a phone pouch during Joyce Jones’s period 5 health class.


PPS administration considers phone restrictions or ban for 2026-2027 school year

*The PHS Learning Commons stores 
archives of The Tower dating back 
to the first issue in 1929. We decided 
to take a look and show some of the 
most interesting pieces of PHS history 
throughout the years.*


### The Tower conducts a survey of redheads


In 1947, the Tower conducted a survey 
on the personal likes and dislikes of 
PHS redheads. The only definitive 
result from the survey, according to 
the article, was that the majority of 
redheads disliked the nickname “red."


### PHS students purchase a plane


During World War II, the student 
council led a buy-a-plane campaign, 
which aimed to raise $15,000 to buy 
an army trainer ship. The student 
body ended up raising almost $20,000 
through bonds and stamps, equivalent 
to $3.6 million today. As such, a 
sponsorship panel with PHS’s name 
was placed on the plane. 

### Frank Sinatra visits PHS

On March 29, 1945, the Tower 
reported on an event where multiple 
Hollywood stars, including Frank 
Sinatra, hosted an event at PHS to 
encourage students to purchase war 
bonds. The cheapest tickets for the 
event started at $100 of war bonds 
(worth $1,800 today), and the most 
expensive reached $5000 in bonds 
($90,000 today)!

### PHS students watch Sputnik


In 1957, the Tower covered a group 
of PHS “moonwatchers” who woke 
up early to watch the Soviet’s Sputnik 
Satellite, the first satellite to reach 
space. The students described it as 
“quite a sight.” However, the head 
of the PHS science department 
downplayed the event, saying that “if 
there had been a race to be first, we 
could’ve been there two years ago.”
PHS students purchase a plane
The Tower conducts a survey 

Graphic: Emily Kim


Sputnik satellite

The Tower peeks into PHS history

This year, the three mental health 
counselors at PHS — Bethzayda Matos, 
Michelle Simborski, and Ryan Stingel — 
have rebranded the Student Assistance 
Program from last year to Resilience, 
Intervention, Support, and Empowerment 
(RISE), which will consist of confidential 
counseling services, classroom visits, and 
evening events centered on topics such as 
depression or substance abuse.


“There’s a lot of pressure here at PHS, and 
the school district saw a rise in numbers 
of students coming to see counselors for 
anxiety, depression, stress related concerns. 
And so the district, being very proactive, 
wanted to build a comprehensive mental 
health program for students and families,” 
said Simborski.


In 2022, the district conducted a survey 
that revealed stark disparities about how 
different racial demographic groups felt 
about belonging, safety, and support in 
PHS. Though 56 percent of PHS students 
overall said they felt like the school was a 
welcoming and safe space to be, only 28 
percent of Hispanic students felt that way. 
Further, only 44.2 percent of PHS students 
overall agreed with the statement “when 
something is really bothering me, there is 
at least one adult that I can go to and talk 
about the problem.”


“I think that the difference in the 
percentages ... and feelings come from a 
space of maybe not understanding the 
support that is available,” said Matos. “If 
you don’t know what’s available, then you’re 
not going to seek it.”


Through introducing herself in 
classrooms, interacting in the hallways, 
and having consultation meetings with 
students, Matos hopes to make them aware 
of the available support and close that gap. 
Given that she is the only Spanish-speaking 
counselor in PHS, Matos regularly visits 
English Language Learning classrooms to 
educate students about mental health and 
the numerous resources that the school 
provides.


Matos says that last year, she and 
Simborski saw an average of 90 students 
a week. However, she also noted that the 
amount of risk assessments decreased from 
the year prior.


“There’s no shame in seeking support. It’s 
not a sign of weakness. It’s actually a sign 
of resilience,” said Matos. “We are here to 
support each and every student however 
we can, but we don’t know what you do or 
what you need, unless you come to us for 
assistance.”


Ryan Stingel, who joined PHS as a mental 
health counselor earlier this year, is also 
the advisor of the Lock In Club, which is 
dedicated to helping students learn mental 
techniques to perform better under pressure 
and regulate emotions.


“I think for a lot of high schoolers who 
are motivated, hard working and want to 
do their best, it can be frustrating if you’re 
able to do something in practice, but you’re 
not able to replicate it or do it as well in in 
the test room or on stage or whenever it 
matters,” said Daniel Haiduc ’26, leader of 
Lock In Club.


Throughout his meetings with students, 
whether as their club advisor, during oneon-one meetings, or through the classroom, 
Stingel strives to relay one core message to 
all students.


“I hope that every person that reads this 
takes away the message ... that no matter 
who you are, you deserve to feel comfortable 
being you,” said Stingel. “You deserve to 
feel comfortable living in your own skin

Photo: Charley Hu


PHS mental health counselors plan RISE initiative


PHS mental health counselors plan RISE initiative

This fall, the PHS administration has 
increased the number of detention slips 
given to students with unverified absences. 
This practice, once widespread at PHS, was 
carried out at a much smaller scale for the 
past few years due to significant leadership 
changes and a lack of personnel. PHS 
Principal Cecilia Birge describes this change 
as a step to combat the school’s chronic 
absenteeism, defined as students missing 
10 percent or more of the school year.


If a student continues to accumulate 
absences despite repeated detentions and 
emails home, the counselors and assistant 
principals get involved to coordinate 
meetings with both students and parents. 
If all else fails, the school can disenroll or 
expel the student, or their parents can be 
taken to court by the Princeton Public 
Schools District.


“Chronic absenteeism in PHS ... has been 
highlighted at the state level, and that’s 
not a data point I want PHS’s name to be 
associated with,” said Birge.


The most common reason for the 
accumulation of unverified absences is 
cutting class. 


“They just skip. I don’t understand why 
kids skip when they’re in school. You woke 
up, got ready for school, you got on the bus 
[or] you walked here ... and then you just 
skip. You’ve already done so much. Just 
go to class,” said Torie Esposito, a special 
education teacher at PHS, who is in charge 
of running detention.


Though the administration is taking 
attendance seriously, they are also trying 
to destigmatize the concept of these 
administrative actions, like detention.


“We actually do not call [detention] 
detention. We call it progress hour ... 
because like I said, [it] is a space for all of 
us to re-engage with students, for students 
to reflect upon the impact of cutting and 
do homework to make progress. They’re 
not [at school] to party, right? And on 
the other hand, [progress hour] is a good 
negative in the sense that if you know it’s 
bad, don’t get on to the bad. Get on to the 
good,” said Birge.


The detention slips are automatically 
generated if a student is marked present 
in some classes but absent in others. Then, 
that student is required to attend detention, 
which is held on Monday, Tuesday, and 
Thursday after school from 3:30 p.m. to 
4:30 p.m. Although the use of detention 
slips has decreased student absences by 18 
percent compared to last year, some students 
nonetheless see the practice as imperfect in 
its current form.


“I think it’s a little bit too harsh because 
it takes on the assumption [that students 
deliberately missed class], and I’ve heard 
from other students as well [that] they 
weren’t missing class. They just got marked 
absent by accident,” said Olivia Chen ’27, a 
student who accidentally got marked absent 
in gym class and had to attend detention. 


Instead of going through the appeals 
process — contacting her assistant principal 
and providing evidence that she was in class 
— Chen just decided to attend detention 
for an hour. 


“I think detention is fine. It sounds serious 
and all, but all it is is just you stay an hour 
after school in the room. I think it’s fine as 
it is, it’s just you need to be a little bit more 
lenient with how [it’s] implemented because 
you should implement it [for] people that 
have patterns and not just people that 
coincidentally just missed a class and got 
marked absent,” said Chen.


Assistant Principal Lauren Freedman 
encourages students to advocate for 
themselves when they think there’s a 
mistake.


“We always tell the students to go to their 
assigned assistant principal. We think it’s 
best for the student to self-advocate and 
reach out to their teachers if [there’s a 
mistake] and have the teacher email [us], 
‘Oh, yes, they did come to class late, and then 
I changed attendance.’ And it’s an easy fix."

Photo: Julia Li


A student holds a detention slip they received for skipping class. 


PHS Investigates: the increase in detention slips

PHS chemistry teacher Matthew Krip joined PHS in 2024 after 13 years of teaching 
chemistry and biology around New Jersey. He began his educational career at two 
alternative schools: Newark Innovation Academy and later Newark Leadership Academy. 
He then transitioned to teaching at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, a suburban 
public school. 


“In Newark I had the privilege of teaching the marginalized in our society through 
alternative programs ... Scotch Plains, however, was a distinctly middle-class experience,” 
said Krip.


 Though he valued that experience, Krip says he feels more at home at Princeton High 
School because of the way PHS’s rigorous curriculum supports its students’ intellectual 
growth. 


Krip himself had a unique educational background: he did not have a traditional high 
school experience and also only developed an interest in chemistry during college, after 
hating the subject in high school. 


“I got kicked out of my grammar school [before] high school because … it was a 
religious school, and I asked too many questions. My parents didn’t want me to be in 
the public high school in Jersey City, so they signed me up for homeschooling through 
VHS tapes [of] teachers from Florida ... I basically homeschooled myself with VHS 
tapes,” said Krip.


Krip holds two masters degrees in philosophy and chemistry, along with his bachelor’s 
degree in biology. He is currently taking classes on biophysics, an interdisciplinary science 
which uses physics to explain biological phenomena, through Princeton University’s 
Continuing Education Program. He brings his passions for philosophy and chemistry 
into the classroom too.


“[There are] students ... [who] have a prejudice that anything that comes in front of 
them was made by someone or someone put it together. And so we’re getting right at 
the core of some really good, intense philosophy. That prejudice, it’s filled with hubris, 
because every single object in reality is held together by these attractions that we 
investigate in chemistry,” said Krip.


He tries to show this connection by creating new lessons that combine real-world 
applications and the more conceptual aspects of chemistry, such as a project on the 
Flint Water Crisis.


“I use a lot of online tools to convey feedback, small groups and discussions, and I like 
making puzzles out of things and using lots of media,” said Krip. “There is this alternating 
rhythm of introducing a theme, making sense of it, working through different problems, 
applying the concepts and then bringing in the math.”


In the remainder of his career, Krip hopes to bridge the large gap he believes exists 
between the sciences and humanities, by continuing to showcase the overlaps between 
philosophy and chemistry, and by possibly introducing a new biophysics courses at 
PHS too. 


“I am free to be myself and teach ... which is an incredible privilege for me. Hence, 
why I am absolutely driven to use every opportunity I have to honor this in reference 
to my calling and this community,” said Krip.

Photo: Viola Que


Krip explains molecular structures to John Woodfield ’27 in Chemistry I Accelerated.

PHS Profile: Matthew Krip

On October 24, the PHS varsity boys football team ended their season with a 35–0 shutout against West Windsor-Plainsboro South, marking the finale of a 7–2 season, a team best in 11 years. However, their season was cut short prematurely, as the team was disqualified from the playoffs. The Tigers faced three ejections, and a rule from the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association (NJSIAA) prevents teams with three or more 
ejections from participating in the state tournament. 

“Our coach [Charles Gallagher] told us,” said co-captain Ellington Hinds ’26. “He sat us down and told [the ruling] to us straight up, but then he left and gave us some time to think about it.”

When asked to provide commentary on the recent suspensions, Head Coach Charles Gallagher and Coach Brandon Williams both declined to be interviewed. Linebacker Julian Frevert ’27 explained how the playoff suspension resulted in a shared negative shift in the team’s attitude towards their season. 

“Leading up to the suspension, we were 6–1 ... so we were 
doing really [well],” said Frevert. “Then, [the suspension] 
happened, [which] kind of ruined the whole vibe of the 
team and made us feel like we messed up in some way.”

Anderson Potter ’26 took a more optimistic approach to 
the suspension, however, observing how the team gained 
experience by learning from past seasons. He explained 
how they leveraged this experience to succeed in the season.

“Everyone had their experience to lead up to these wins 
and built upon them,” said Potter. “I think we had a lot of 
success, and I think it was a really fun season. It was great.”
 
The suspension drew mixed reactions from the team, especially in the light of other issues that complicated this decision. Hinds believes the ejections weren’t entirely fair to the team.

“I think it’s because we are Princeton,” said Hinds. “It’s a [pattern] that the [referees] don’t like us.”

In terms of the ejections, Potter explained the first two ejections were due to unsportsmanlike conduct and an argument with a referee. He remarked that the third ejection, which led to the disqualification, was heavily contested by the team.

“The [third] one — this is the one that a lot of people are trying to argue against — [happened because] someone [said] 
something in a huddle,” said Potter. “The [referee] threw a flag because I think it was a bad word or maybe the [referee] didn’t like what he heard. That was the third one where he also got disqualified.”

While Frevert said that the team is generally displeased and disappointed with the disqualification due to the impressive season they had, he acknowledges that it wasn’t entirely uncalled for.

“In theory, [the decisions] were controversial, but by rule, it deserved to happen, and it should have happened to us,” said Frevert. “So as a team, we feel like it wasn’t deserved because we don’t feel like we’re the type of team to be disqualified. But, we did break the rules, and if you break the rules, you get disqualified.”

Additionally, the team is looking to focus more on sportsmanship and how they present themselves in upcoming seasons. Frevert echoed this sentiment, detailing the plan to work on behavior in the future. 

“The seniors talked about it, and we’re [going to] put a big emphasis on sportsmanship and how we behave in general and be more strict with the enforcement of punishment so [players] abide by the rules,” said Frevert.

Potter corroborated this idea of emphasizing sportsmanship within the team’s culture. He underlined the importance of ensuring this type of behavior doesn’t become a pattern or a reputation.

“The most important thing, especially for the freshmen, is knowing that this [behavior] is not normal, and this is not [what] should be expected from the team,” said Potter.“Everyone should be looking to build each other up and then everyone should also, learning from this event, carry themselves with the most professional attitude ... on and off the field.”

As the team puts this setback behind them, they aim to come back stronger next season, even with the loss of their many graduating seniors. 

“I feel like we have guys who could be better, who 
are [going to] step up, and I think that we’re [going 
to] be just as good, if not better, next year, and we’re 
[going to] work really hard to get there,” said Frevert.

Photo: Jasur Agzamov

Anderson Potter ’26, Dayron Ospina Posada ’26, Kobe Smith ’27, and Vincent Min ’28 celebrate a big play.

Football team banned from playoffs

The Princeton University Art Museum opened its doors
to the public at 5 p.m. on October 31 for the first time since
2021. The new 146,000-square-foot building has been five
years in the making and reopened on Halloween with a
completely new facility, built on the site of the old museum
that was demolished in 2021.

“I’m incredibly excited,” said Juliana Ochs Dweck,
Chief Curator for the museum. “We’ve been working on
this building for years, and I’ve been working on it in my
capacity as the chief curator for over six years now.”

The new building, completed in the fall of 2025, features
Princeton University’s art collection in a completely new
light. Largely designed by the principal architect David
Adjaye, the new museum is almost double the size of the old
museum. Beyond space, however, Dweck shared a vision of
creating a space of belonging for all the museum’s visitors.

“I hope that when the public comes, the building as
a whole meets people where they are,” said Dweck. “I
really hope that people find themselves and find works
that speak to them.”

Given that the collection has an impressive 117,000 pieces
of art, one of the goals for the new museum was more
space to feature the art. According to Stephen Kim, Senior
Associate Director for Communication & Information,
only 2 percent of the entire collection was previously able
to be featured in the old museum’s 2,500-square-foot space.

The new building also provides more than 12,000 square
feet for educational spaces, such as creativity labs, six object
study classrooms, two seminar rooms, and an auditorium.

The old museum’s structure had an upstairs featuring
Western art and a downstairs presenting ancient and nonWestern art. While the galleries upstairs were open and
received an abundance of natural light, the downstairs
galleries lacked these qualities.

“Unconsciously, there was an implied hierarchy as if we
were elevating the art of the West and somehow denigrating
the arts of ancient and non-Western art. [The new building]
radically moves away [from] any presumption of hierarchy,
[putting] every collection… on one floor,” said Dweck.

The new museum launched with a 24-hour open house
from October 31 to November 1. The open house included
events such as a Halloween fair, a costume contest, dance
party, movie screenings, trivia, and more. Additionally, the
new museum features two new inaugural exhibits.

The first, “Princeton Collects,” highlights works from the
over 2,000 artworks donated by alumni for the museum’s
new building. Most notable among them are works from the
artists Gerhard Richter, Mark Rothko, and Hans Hofmann.

“One of the qualities that the exhibition models is the
ways that art from across times and place can be presented
in dialogue with each other,” said Dweck. “We’re… modeling
the ways that we teach and learn with collections, which is
often by comparison and juxtaposition and conversation
across time.”

“Toshiko Takaezu: Dialogues in Clay”, the other opening
exhibit, featured the ceramic pieces of the artist Toshiko
Takaezu. A professor at Princeton University for almost 30
years, Takaezu pioneered the form of closed ceramic pieces,
positioning her as one of the eminent ceramic artists of the
20th century.

“[Takaezu] was able to get away from the sort of divide
that the art world has created between … craft and art,” said
Dweck. “Whereas the ‘Princeton Collects’ is taking this vast
encyclopedic look at collections and the pedagogic work
that they can do, this is a more intimate focus on a single
artist and a celebration of one particular form of materiality”.

The museum will continue to feature new special
exhibitions and galleries, hoping to feature betweensix and
ten special exhibitions each year.

“The installation for day one is set, but it will continue to
evolve and to sort of react like an organism to the people
who use the space,” said Dweck. “The real conversation
with our publics, which includes you and your peers and
students on campus, only begins when we actually open.” 

photo: Katherine Chen

Nine interlocking pavilions make up the structure of the Princeton University Art Museum building.

Princeton University Art Museum reopens after five years

It is well documented that many teenagers experience a myriad of social pressures just from simply going through their day. A report from the National Institute of Mental Health reported that an estimated 31.9% of adolescents have had some anxiety disorder. Unfortunately for them, our world currently prioritizes extroverts. Especially among the social lives of young people, there’s much to gain from being unafraid to wave in the halls, initiate conversations, work through awkwardness, and deal with the complications of social cues. It is easy to assume that being outgoing equates to being happy, or even being successful, but this is not the case. Introverted people are capable of being fulfilled as well, but they simply prefer utilizing quiet reflection and close connections. Introverted students, already hindered in the social scene, find themselves further disadvantaged in their academics.

   Consider a student in their math class, raising their hand to answer a question they think they know well. If they get the question right, there is not much of a reward; the class progresses as usual. If they get it wrong, however, there are many perceivable social risks: their teacher and fellow students now know that they have a gap in their knowledge, which possibly builds a bad impression. Running through these scenarios, many students find that there is little incentive to participate. This is especially true for an introverted student, who may not enjoy participating in class even when they know the answers. Although small group discussions or one-on-one discussions with the teacher may work for them, they often get penalized all the same for not participating during full-class discussions. Currently, class participation is often ultimately a system that doesn’t account for differences in learning styles.

  While research on active learning shows that engaging with the material can help retention, it does not say that students must constantly speak in class discussion to learn. It is reasonable that there is a correlation between participation and understanding, but that is more likely because students who already know the material feel comfortable speaking and therefore get more chances to answer questions. The problem is not participation itself, but the narrow way it is viewed upon. If teachers are going to grade participation, there needs to be a conscious effort between the teacher and the student to communicate. Teachers should strive to learn how each student learns best and acknowledge multiple valid ways to “participate” in class, such as through group projects, written responses, one-on-one check-ins, or short reflections, not just speaking out in front of thirty people. For many students, working in small groups is just as effective, and often less intimidating, than responding to or asking a question in front of the whole class.

  Isaac Son ’27 corroborated this idea. “I think definitely within a small group, I feel like you probably have much less judgment.”

 Teachers who want to better gauge student performances can use written responses or individual forms. To facilitate the sharing of ideas, classes should use small groups in which students can confer with their peers and have more meaningful conversations. There is never a need for teachers to assign grade-point worth to a system that works for very few and accomplishes very little.

Cons of participation: How important is class participation?

A club leader excitedly posts about an upcoming event. A team captain announces a fundraiser. In both of these cases, the student instantly reaches hundreds of views with a click of a button.

And then suddenly — one day — ”BLOCKED DOMAIN.” An orange globe symbol appears that has come to symbolize the source of every student’s technology frustration. One more site — a site more consequential that it may seem to the naked eye — has been blocked. 

All of this frustration results from the new filter placed on school-issued devices: Mosyle, a program which automatically categorizes websites and allows technology officers to block categories deemed unacademic.

Many students have been left reeling and frustrated after Instagram, among other websites, has been blocked. Some feel silenced and unheard. And the path to appealing these blocks seems intentionally obscured.

“I wouldn’t say [the appeals process is] intentionally not out there, but it certainly isn’t a goal to get students to be putting in tickets,” said PPS Chief Technology Officer Todd MacDonald.

The district’s official procedure for appealing blocks is through staff tickets — and it is a process that relies solely on them. This places an undue burden on teachers, as they now need to advocate for students on top of all their other responsibilities. What’s more is that it robs students of a valuable opportunity to articulate their needs and advocate for themselves.

“The approach technology is taking is that if there is a service, an application, or a website, that’s really essential to instruction, then teachers can email technology, then they review it, [and] they approve it,” said Principal Cecilia Birge.

However, in an increasingly digital world, learning to balance freedom with responsible usage is a critical skill — it is critical thinking applied to a very real part of student’s lives. As a school district that emphasizes “learning to live,” learning to make effective decisions about technology are just as important as traditional classroom skills. 
“There’s a lot of research out there that not even adults are good at always maintaining that balance,” said PPS Superintendent Dr. Michael LaSusa.

If even adults struggle, however, it only underscores the importance of teaching healthy online managment early. High school provides a controlled environment to learn how to effectively regulate skills in our formative years. 
To be clear, many of the new restrictions are a result of administration prioritizing student online safety — which is a worthy interest to pursue.

“When it comes to safety, [that is] absolutely top down. There’s just no compromise to that ... adults are trained ... to learn how to manage the safety aspect of [technology],” said Birge.

LaSusa also emphasized that his primary concern was the integrity of the school network.
Aside from clearly dangerous sites (that install spyware, for example), however, students should have free access to the internet, just as they would in a real-world setting outside of school. This provides opportunities for them to grow and learn from failure, becoming effective 21st century citizens. 
Thus, we implore the district to meet us halfway. Proactive communication is key — when sudden blocks are put in place at the mercy of an automated device manager, it is only inevitable that the student body begins to breed resentment. Blocking a tool first and waiting for backlash and appeals — which disrupts student activities and learning — is a poor way to manage technology.

Instead, we invite our technology department to actively seek student voice in implementing technology policies—speak with our student representatives, and bring passionate voices to the table to truly understand the needs of the student body. Only then can we move beyond a mindset of restriction and work towards creating an environment of forward-thinking learning that reflects the changing world we live in.

Analog mindset in a modern world

**NOSFERATU: A SYMPHONY OF HORROR (1922) directed by F.W. Murnau**

Blood, coffins, and bats: nothing says Halloween quite
like vampires, and no film has portrayed the vampire quite
like F.W. Murnau’s “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror.”
In this illicit adaptation of Bram Stoker’s classic novel
“Dracula,” Max Schreck stars as the nightmarish Count
Orlok, a performance so believable that it spawned legions
of conspiracy theories about Schreck’s own possible
vampiric origins.

Filmed in stark black-and-white, “Nosferatu” follows
a young real estate agent named Thomas Hutter, played
by Gustav von Wangenheim, who travels to Transylvania
in order to sell a house to a mysterious count. The film
is truly a product of its time: an indescribable terror of
"The Other" pervades every frame, the disease-bearing
rats ubiquitous in the film reminiscent of those once
infesting the battlefield trenches.

Despite clearly being from a different era, the
nightmarish atmosphere, excellent lead performances,
and easily transmutable story lend it a timeless quality—
it’s no wonder that it has yielded a myriad of remakes
over time. The latest of these, Robert Egger’s 2024 film
of the same name starring Bill Skarsgård as the titular
vampire and Lily-Rose Depp as Hutter’s wife Ellen, is
proof of the enduring legacy of Nosferatu as one of the
most influential achievements in the history of cinema
and the horror genre.

Seeing this movie performed with a live score to a soldout audience at the Princeton Garden Theatre last October
was one of my best moviegoing experiences. I love this
movie not only for the scares and storyline but also its
occasional silliness and, ultimately, the influence that it
continues to have on film over a century after its release.

**AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981) directed by John Landis**

Foggy English moors. Local superstitions. Practical
effects good enough to award it the first ever Academy
Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. “An American
Werewolf in London” may have been poorly received
upon initial release, but in the years following its release, it
has grown into a cult classic of the horror-comedy genre.
In it, college students David Kessler, played by David
Naughton, and Jack Goodman, played by Griffin Dunne,
are backpacking across the north of England when they
stop for the night at a pub, where they are cautioned of a
mysterious creature who lurks the local moors.

Neither heeds these warnings, however, and what
follows is a surreal, grisly comedy of errors. Naughton
gives a great performance, transforming from an average
good-humored New Yorker into a snarling man-beast.
Though Rick Baker’s practical effects are deservedly the
most famous aspect of the film, the rest of the movie is
up to par. The omnipresent humor balances out the often
startling violence that the third act dives into head-first,
and the friendship between Naughton and Dunne’s
characters, along with a relationship that Naughton forms
later on, provides a strange emotional core to the movie.

I love this movie not only for being Griffin Dunne’s
breakout role but also for the bizarre, gruesome, giddy
amusement-park ride it is. “An American Werewolf in
London” is a highly entertaining film that successfully
satirizes some elements of the horror genre while dutifully
paying homage to others.

**THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991) directed by Jonathan Demme**

There are few cinematic characters who haunt the public
consciousness quite like Anthony Hopkins’ Dr. Hannibal
Lecter. Eerie and restrained in his famously Academy
Award-winning 16 minutes of screentime, Hopkins is a
force of nature, staring down the camera with a chilling
intensity. Despite his undeniable excellence, however,
the film is Jodie Foster’s; playing the hard-working FBI
trainee Clarice Starling, Foster adopts her secondhand
briefcase and West Virginian accent with ease.

Throughout the film, Starling struggles with the sexism
imbued in the culture of her chosen profession and her
past as a poor orphan growing up on her cousin’s farm
following the death of her parents.Strangely enough,
Lecter seems to be the only person in her life to respect
(or, at least, understand) her unfortunate circumstances.
The strange chemistry between the two is a kind of
sinister symbiosis that pushes the tightly-paced plot along:
Starling is assigned to interview the incarcerated Lecter
under the guise of a psychological survey. The assignment
quickly reveals itself to be a ploy by her supervisor, Jack
Crawford, to get Lecter’s professional opinion on serial
killer Buffalo Bill. Intense close-ups on the lead actors’
faces famously characterize the interview scenes, but the
camerawork is deft and stylish throughout, drawing the
tension out to highwire suspense in the gripping third act.

Though I do harbor a particular fondness for all
Hannibal Lecter adaptations, I think that “The Silence of
the Lambs” is the best among them. Though the film is
now famous to the point of innumerable parodies, to me
Hopkins’ Lecter has never lost his ability to frighten. The
first (and only) horror movie to ever receive the Academy
Award for Best Picture, “The Silence of the Lambs”
remains a classic of the genre that will be celebrated for
decades to come.

Classic horror movies to add to your Halloween watchlist

Volleyball

Coming into the season as two-time state champions, the PHS volleyball team immediately went on a 16 game win streak within the first month, achieving their 31st consecutive win, continued from the previous season. They ended the season with a 20-5 record by winning the state title for the third consecutive year. Other significant games were the two that 
were played in a tri-match against Williamstown and Old-Bridge, two other top-ranked teams in New Jersey. 

“We really got to meet new people and connect, going through losing together, as well as winning,” said Johanna Kraft ’29.

Girls Soccer

A six-game winning streak to open their season set the PHS girls soccer team up for a varsity record of 13-7, making it their most successful fall season since 2023. During the first 
round of the NJSIAA Central Jersey Group 4 tournament, the varsity team won 2-0 against East Brunswick. The varsity team wrapped up their postseason competitions after reaching the quarterfinals of the tournament. 

“When we have chemistry off the field, it makes it fun,” said Leah O’Neil ’26. “We have all the right inside jokes, and I think that’s what makes the season really special.”

Girls Tennis

Kicking off their 2025 season with a solid five game win streak, the PHS girls tennis team ended with a 12-2 record. Over the course of two months, the team played numerous matches, advancing all the way to state finals where they faced WWPNorth.With the overall match tied 2-2, the outcome hinged on a final singles match, which PHS won after three hours to advance.

“I think that everyone on the team really did enjoy being together, so we had really good team spirit,” said Sophia Bruhn ’27.

Field Hockey

The PHS field hockey team ended their fall season with a varsity record of 10-6. Despite losing their first game, the girls quickly recovered and won 6 straight games. The varsity 
team scored a total of 56 points this season, with their highest-scoring games being against Lawrence (8-1 win), Princeton Day (6-0 win), and Robbinsville (6-0 win). Most notably, as the third-seeded team, they beat second-seed Princeton Day during the CVC semi-final championships. Head Coach Heather Serverson celebrated her 200th win with 
the team after their game against Hopewell. 

“I was just very lucky to be on this team and meet all these girls and learn all the things that I did, whether it was field hockey or not field hockey,” said Maeve Hughes ’29. 

Girls XC

The girls’ cross country team secured a second-place finish at the NJSIAA Group 4 State Championship held at Holmdel Park. This performance earned them a wild card entry into the NJSIAA Meet of Champions, where they placed sixth overall. Their success was built on the lowscore winning format of the sport, 
a principle they demonstrated decisively at the CVC tournament. 
There, the team swept the competition, amassing a winning 
score of just 32 points and finishing well ahead of second-place West Windsor-Plainsboro North, which scored 75. Additionally, PHS placed second at the Varsity B race at the 
Shore Coaches Invitational on October 8th, one of the biggest instate races for the team. 

“All the people worked really hard to achieve their goals, and everyone put their all into it,” said Angelena Gonzalez ’29. “We had a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed just being with 
[the team] in general.

Boys XC

For the first time in program history, the team swept the CVC tournament, winning the varsity title, the JV title, and the first-place overall county title. Additionally, three runners placed in the top ten at the Jerry Hart Invitational at Peddie. The team capped the season with a second-place result at the sectional championship.

“I think definitely the counties win, and the JV counties win, were the most memorable moments, especially like the bus ride home,” said Steven Cenci ’25.

Cheer

The PHS Cheer team earned first place in the Game Day and specialty division at the CVC championship, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since over 15 years ago. Throughout the fall season, the team cheered at numerous football games throughout the year, including the Homecoming Game. They led the student 
section through cheers and chants to help keep the energy up throughout the game as well as performing multiple stunts, 
showcasing the skill and coordination of the team.

“We were excited to make the routine for competition and looking forward to everything,” said Emily Marchione ’28.

Football

The Tigers concluded a strong season with a 7-2 record, their best since 2014. The year was highlighted by two signature wins: a dominant 35-0 shutout of West Windsor and a dramatic 19-14 comeback victory over Holy Cross in the Homecoming Game, where they overcame a halftime deficit to secure the win.

“This was our best record in a while,” said Aryan Kondakindi ’29. “Despite not making the playoffs, not because our record but because of player ejections, everyone played well and had a highlight this season."

Boys Soccer

The team concluded its season with a 14-2-1 record, which included a tie against Notre Dame. Their postseason run extended to the final match of both the CVC tournament and the state championship. During the season, the team recorded shutout victories over Ewing (7-0) and Hightstown (6-0).

“My favorite memory was probably winning the league,” said Riccardo Meloni ’27. “We did pretty well in the CVC [tournament]. The journey to the final was good."

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