Aaron Sam Blanchard, known as Coach Blanchard to the
PHS fencing team, died at age 56 on December 2, 2024 at
the RWJ University Hospital. He was surrounded by his
wife and three daughters, one of whom is a PHS graduate.
Blanchard was born in Salem, Oregon and grew up in
the nearby town of Independence. While studying at the
University of Oregon in 1987, Blanchard discovered his
passion for fencing. In 1995, Blanchard began fencing foil
competitively, eventually achieving A rank, the highest
rating possible.

Blanchard relocated to Princeton with his wife in 2000. He
soon joined Princeton YMCA’s fencing program to coach
multiple classes. When the YMCA shut down the program
in 2023 after the pandemic, Blanchard continued to teach
his students at his own club, Princeton Interscholastic
Fencing. In addition to teaching year-long fencing courses
at all levels, Blanchard also started fencing programs at
local elementary and middle schools, including Princeton
Charter School. From 2018, Banchard was also a coach at
the Bucks County Academy of Fencing.

Blanchard joined the PHS community in 2012, when
he was hired as the assistant coach for the fencing team.
In his time at PHS, he led the team to success at the state
level, bringing home individual and team awards. Many
remember Blanchard as a highly passionate and creative
coach, devising his own system of warmups with unique
names. Rebecca Zhang ’26, the captain of the girls foil
squad, expressed gratitude for Blanchard’s contributions
to the Princeton fencing community.

“I’ve trained with Coach Blanchard ever since sixth grade.
He was a great role model ... he never once complained
about my mistakes or my irresponsibilities, but instead he
took his time to teach me what it meant to be a mentally
stronger, a more responsible fencer and a better person,”
said Zhang.

In addition to fencing, Blanchard had a passion
for drawing cartoons and comics. He enjoyed comics
since childhood, and worked as a comic artist under
the pseudonym of “Shlepzig,” amassing many fans and
becoming a regular at several comic cons. Blanchard’s
family said that at the time of his passing, Blanchard still
had much he planned and hoped to experience.

“There was so much Sam had hoped to still do in life — he
planned myriad comics, many more fencing classes, after
school fencing clubs, adventures in grandparenthood, and
countless future endeavors,” his family wrote.

Anita Ndubisi ’26, echoing Zhang’s sentiments, reflected
on the entire team’s gratitude for the contributions
Blanchard made to the team in his 11 years as a coach.

“Coach Blanchard was more than just a coach to us — he
was a true mentor and friend. He gave so much, including
providing us with fencing equipment, all because he wanted
us to enjoy the sport,” said Ndubisi. “Every member of our
team would agree that Coach Blanchard was a great coach,
and we are all thankful for everything he did for us.”

PHS fencing coach Sam Blanchard dies at 56

### StuCocoa day

*January 9, 2025 at Tiger Time*

A long day at school can wear down
even the toughest of students. On
January 9 at Tiger Time, you can stop
by at the main intersection for a sweet
pick-me-up! At Student Coucil’s annual
StuCocao fundraiser for PHS’s spring
events, you can buy a delicious cup of
hot chocolate for only $1 each! You can
also add marshmallows and whipped
cream to level up the perfect, limited-edition after-school comfort drink.

### A Cappella Night

*January 10, 2025*

Like singing, harmonies, and catchy
tunes? Attend A Cappella Night
hosted by the Princeton Student
Board on January 10 in the Princeton
Public Library! Featuring a handful
of PHS a cappella groups including
Around 8, Cat’s Meow, and Cloud
Nine, the musical event will leave you
saying “encore!”

### PHS building tours

*January 15 6:15 p.m., January 24 5:30 p.m., January 26 10:00 a.m.*

In one month, Princeton voters will
vote on a $90 million referendum that
would support renovations at PHS.
These tours might be your last chance
to get a sneak-peak at all PHS’s quirks,
including a 20 year old HVAC system!
You will also have the chance to ask Ms.
Birge any of your burning questions
on our heating, air conditioning, and
modular classrooms.

### Planetary alignment

*January 18, 2025*

Join the six planets in a once-in-100-
year event that will dazzle both the
eye and the night sky! On January 18,
Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus
and Neptune will look as if they’re
gathered in a small area, appearing
like a bright cluster across the night
sky. Visible anywhere in the Northern
Hemisphere, this celestial gathering
is not something Princeton residents
would want to miss. 

### Big Band Dance

*January 31, 2025 at 7 p.m.–10 p.m.*

Do you feel like dancing when you
hear jazz? Unleash your funk at the Big
Band Dance in the PHS Cafeteria on
January 31. Under bright disco lights,
Studio Band and Jazz Ensemble will
play popular jazz tunes that will get
your feet moving. Bring a friend, your
favorite dancing shoes, and be ready for
a night of nonstop, swinging fun!

January 2025: Save the dates

In past years, both the Black
History Month and Hispanic
Heritage Month assemblies
followed a special bell schedule:
on a given day, one club would
give two distinct 75 minute
performances separated by an
approximately 30 minute break
in between.

This year, PHS Principal
Cecilia Birge proposes to have
the celebrations occur during
homeroom in a shorter, hybrid
format, during Tiger Time, or
after school like the annual Asian
Fest. These modifications were
requested by many teachers,
as student performers were
missing a significant amount
of class times for rehearsals
and an additional two-thirds of
school-time instruction on the
assembly day; Birge cited loss of
instructional time as the main
justification for the change
“We want our students to
thrive culturally. We also want
them to learn academically.
When a student is celebrating
their heritage on the stage while
carrying 60 absences in a class,
then we’re not doing our job
right,” said Birge.

Birge proposed these changes
before the summer, reaching
out to the advisors of Hispanic
Heritage Month, Latinos Unidos,
and Black Students Union
to receive their input on the
proposed shifts in assembly
structure.

“The [advisors] expressed that
they understand where we’re
[coming] from,” said Birge.
However, many students are
displeased with the modifications,
including Osbaldo Morales ’25,
a student leader of Latinos
Unidos. The changes mean that
only half of PHS will see the
assembly in person (the other
half on Zoom), which Morales
feels would diminish the impact
of the assembly in highlighting
the culture of underrepresented
students.

“With this going on, I just feel
not heard,” said Morales. “[PHS]
is a predominantly white school.
[The assembly is] a way to show
that [we Latinos] are here. There’s
a lot of us, right, that are in this
school, and [people] don’t know
that we’re here.”

Lena Hamilton ’25, the president
of Pride, Unity, Leadership,
Sisterhood, and Esteem club
(PULSE) is also protesting the
change. The club, which aims
to “promote a safe space for
women of color to excel in our
community,” had previously been
a leader in the Black History
Month Assembly. Hamilton fears
that, if the assembly is moved
after school, fewer people would
attend, resulting in less chance
to foster understanding between
different groups within the PHS
community.

“Assemblies like these foster
communication and open
dialogue across students who
wouldn’t normally talk to each
other”, said Hamilton. “Last year,
after the assembly, I had a lot of
people coming up to me who I
didn’t even know, going, ‘Wow,
that assembly was so good!"

Birge stated that, despite
positive reactions from students
and community members,
cultural assemblies have not
addressed fundamental issues or
created long term change.

“To me, the message is that
the students are feeling good
about the celebration only ... but
then in other aspects students
are not feeling included, and we
must address that ... one day of
celebration [is] not addressing
the issue in a fundamental
manner,” said Birge.

Moreover, additional cultural
clubs have requested their own
celebrations, including the
Muslim Student Union and
several South Asian culture clubs.
In Birge’s view, maintaining past
years’ special assembly schedules
while also creating space for new
assembly requests can make it
difficult for teachers to fully cover
the curriculum.

“[PHS’s schedule has]
extremely limited time [and a]
very rigid school structure by
default at the state level. [We have
to consider] the availability of
[the] PAC as well as the amount
of time required to put up a
really fabulous show like that,”
said Birge. “We want to keep
that highlight for our students.
We want them to walk away
at graduation [and] say, ‘I did
something,’ but we can still do
that in 60 minutes.”

In order to reach a solution,
Birge has asked student leaders to
send a proposal for an assembly
that would address some of the
administration’s concerns.
Hamilton is currently drafting
the Black History Month assembly
proposal along with other leaders
to address the administration’s
concerns.

“We’re making a proposal to
send to Mrs. Birge on how we
would do [the assembly] and
make sure it’s as educational as
possible,” said Hamilton. “I’m
very hopeful that we’ll have a clear
solution to this before February,
so that we can have our assembly,
because I think a lot of people
recognize how important these
assemblies are in promoting
diversity and inclusion within
our school.”

PHS Social Worker for Wellness
and PULSE advisor Bethany
Siddiqu is confident that this
year assembly leaders can address
some of the administration’s
concerns about students skipping
the assemblies as a means to cut
school.

“Mrs. Birge was not pleased
with some of the attendance
issues related to the assembly,
which I think can be resolved
this year in a similar format as
we’ve done with the club fair,
and now even our evacuation
drills,” said Siddiqu. “We can
utilize the scanning system to
scan in students to verify their
attendance.”

Siddiqu believes that with these
issues resolved, Birge will approve
an in-person Black History
Month assembly.

“I think that Ms. Birge was
really receptive to the students
advocating to have an assembly.
I think she wants to see the
students step up in an organized
way to let her know what [they]
want to do, what the mission
is, what the layout and the
format and all that kind of stuff
is going to be, which is totally
understandable,” said Siddiqu.

Will Ponder ’25, leader of
the Multicultural Student
Achievement Network (MSAN),
is similarly confident that the
Black History Month can work
in a shorter time frame, and said
that the administration has been
receptive to possible changes.

“I think a compromise can
occur. Since there is a Tiger
Time every week on Thursday,
it is definitely an option to
incorporate some sort of a
cultural assembly within one of
those days during this year,” said
Ponder.

Siddiqu also emphasized how
impressed she is with the student
leaders who have worked to
reach a compromise with the
administration, while at the same
time not refraining from their
ultimate goal.

“I’m just really proud of the
students that are voicing their
opinions about something,”
said Siddiqu. “It can be really
scary to have a meeting with
your principal or to challenge
authority in any type of way,
but I think that the student
leaders of MSAN, PULSE and
Latinos Unidos have been really
professional, and I’m just really
proud of them."

Assembly format changes spark spirited student response


    This November, 32 PHS students embarked on an eleven-day cultural exchange trip to Japan. Organized by Japanese teacher Risa Sakakibara, the trip spanned Kyoto, Nara, Kanazawa, and Tokyo. Including a homestay with host families, the trip offered PHS students an immersive experience of Japanese culture, traditions, and daily life.

   “The itinerary was carefully designed to include as many cultural experiences as possible, including activities at Izumigaoka High School and visits to notable sightseeing locations,” said Sakakibara. 

   At the trip’s first stop, Kyoto, students explored landmarks such as the Kiyomizu and Kinkakuji Temples, experiencing a blend of history and nature through traditional architecture and Bonsai gardens. The students then visited the city of Nara, where they toured Nara Park, fed free-roaming deer — a display of the city’s connection with nature — and explored the Great Buddha Hall at Toda-ji Temple. 

   “I had many valuable opportunities to directly engage with Japanese history, its traditions, and culture,” said Oscar Kim ’26. “I really enjoyed interacting with the local residents and visiting historical sites and temples.”

   Beyond sightseeing, students were able to closely interact with Japanese life through a homestay experience, in which they attended Izumigaoka High School in Kanazawa alongside a partnered exchange student. At the high school, several first-year classes were available for PHS students, including science, physics, mathematics, modern Japanese, classical Japanese, and social studies.
 
   “The [school] treated us amazingly. It was super welcoming. Everything was catered to us,”  said Kona Macallister ’26. “One thing that surprised me, though, is they actually don't [wear] shoes in high school. They wear slippers. So you take your shoes off at the front door and you wear slippers, which is pretty cool.”

   To further immerse themselves in the experience of Japanese high schoolers PHS students engaged in extracurricular activities at the high school, participating in debate, traditional Japanese calligraphy, and practicing in mochi-tsuki, the Japanese process of pounding rice to make rice cakes.

   “This diverse range of activities provided the students with a comprehensive look at Japanese high school life, blending cultural traditions with academic and interactive experiences,” said Sakakibara. “The warm and welcoming attitude of the students and teachers at Izumigaoka High School made these experiences even more enriching and unforgettable.”

   After school, the Japanese exchange students often acted as tour guides for PHS students, bringing them to downtown Kanazawa temples, stations, and convenience stores. Returning home to the houses of their Japanese exchange students, PHS students were often faced with language barriers with host families. 

   “With the parents, there was a language barrier, but I was able to communicate with them pretty decently with my knowledge of Japanese,” said Macallister. “My [exchange] student was very good at English, so it really helps with the language barrier and trying to communicate with everyone.”

   But despite these communication barriers, host families welcomed PHS students into Japanese culture, teaching them how to play Japanese board games and cook Japanese food, such as Takoyaki.
 
  In Kanazawa, the group also explored the Higashi Chaya District, known for its traditional tea houses, and strolled through the Kenrokuen Garden, one of Japan’s most celebrated landscapes. Other experiences included participating in a tea ceremony and riding a bullet train to Tokyo. 

   In Tokyo, students explored more modern neighborhoods such as Shibuya, Harajuku, and Akihabara, learning the public etiquette and the pace of daily life in Japan. 

   “[In Japan], people strictly adhere to the rules. So in New York City, for example, many people jaywalk. But that's not the case [in Japan], as everyone waits for the stop lights to go off, and they also keep the cities really clean,” said Kim. “I think in Japan, [people] keep to themselves in public. But if you go to American cities, people are generally loud [and] rowdy.”

   But after the week and a half trip to Japan, the students walked away with more than just a better understanding of Japanese culture, but a broadened interest in the Japanese language. 

   “I think that this trip has really motivated me to learn more Japanese and try harder in class, because I want to be able to actually go there in the future, someday, and be able to interact with local residents in fully Japanese,” said Kim. 

   Through overcoming language and culture barriers, Sakakibara feels that students were able to build long-lasting connections with their counterparts overseas.

   “This trip was far more than a sightseeing excursion—it was an extension of education, a platform for deep learning, and a step toward fostering mutual understanding between cultures.” said Sakakibara. “I am profoundly grateful to the staff and families in Japan, as well as the many individuals who supported this program. I hope this exchange becomes a bridge between our two schools and nations, strengthening the bonds of friendship and collaboration for years to come.”


PHS travels to Japan

### Bill Urias

Every day, students who enter PHS through the
Tower entrance are greeted by Bill Urias and asked for
their IDs. However, this quick interaction does not
reveal much about his interesting life before PHS or
his adventurous hobbies outside of his work.
After finishing high school in South Jersey, Urias
joined the military for four years before going to college.
He attended both Rutgers University and The College
of New Jersey, where he studied accounting. He then
traveled to California in hopes of pursuing a master’s
degree in business.

While in California, Urias instead worked for a
private company where he cut trees due to his passion
for adventure and nature. However, after eight years
of living in California, his wife’s parents fell ill and the
couple decided to move back to New Jersey.
Although Urias formerly studied accounting, he
decided to become a foreman for the Township of
Princeton.

“I had a crew of 45 men and women, and every
morning we would make the assignments on what
we were going to do. We had crews that took care
of the trees, took care of the signs around the town,
maintained the parks, [and] cut the grass,” said Urias.

Not long after retiring from his position as a
foreman, Urias was recruited to become a part-time
security guard and building monitor at PHS. He has
been working at PHS for the past five years. His job
includes checking student IDs when they enter the
building, pointing visitors in the right direction, and
filling in for other missing staff.

His passion for the outdoors not only influenced
his career choices but also how he spends his time
outside of work. One of his favorite pastimes is riding
motorcycles.

“I have three motorcycles. We do tours [and] take
people up to Lake George and Lake Placid. I don’t
bring [the motorcycles] to work,” said Urias. 

### Tracy Hart

Keeping students fed is an integral yet complex
process at PHS. As one of several cafeteria workers
who make sure this process runs successfully, Tracy
Hart ensures that all students are well-fed and ready
to learn.

Growing up in Hopewell, Hart has been working
with Pomptonian Food Service, PHS’s new food
service provider, for three years. She has worked all
over New Jersey in multiple school districts with
Pomptonian, but started at PHS this July.

“I know that the community is interested in farmto-tray and locally sourced things like that. My father’s also a farmer in the Hopewell area. I was really excited
when we [started at PHS] because I can incorporate
a lot of things that are locally grown that I’m familiar
with from this area into the menu,” said Hart.

 Prior to Pomptonian, Hart worked for several other
food service providers, but she enjoys working with
Pomptonian as the company focuses on delivering
services exclusively in schools, whether K-12 or
community colleges.

“I went to Rutgers, and I have a degree in nutritional
science, and I was hired by Sodexo, a food service
company, right from class. I was with them for 20 years.
I also did country clubs involved in food service, and
started as Grimace at McDonald’s and got involved in
food service, then I went to Strayer [University] for
my Master’s [in] Business Administration,” said Hart.

Outside of work, Hart enjoys taking her four kids
tent camping, going to Hershey Park, and tending to
her backyard chicken. She is also helping her father
as he opens a brewery in Pennington.

### Nick Cream

Armed with a ten-year tenure as a police officer,
Nick Cream now uses the security skills he gained in
his role as PPS’s attendance officer and PHS’s security
officer. With this year marking his 34th in the district,
some of Cream’s responsibilities include maintaining
building security, monitoring the cafeteria during
lunch, breaking up physical confrontations between
students, conducting wellness checks for chronically
absent students, and conducting residency checks.

“If [PPS] suspects that somebody may be living
outside of Princeton, but attending the schools illegally,
I investigate those maps,” said Cream. “And if a kid’s
missing a lot of school, sometimes … I’ll make a home
visit.”

Cream’s interest in pursuing a career relating to public
security stretches back to college. After he graduated
from Lawrence High School in Lawrence Township,
Cream studied criminal justice at The College of New
Jersey. Following his college graduation, he trained to
become a police officer and ultimately joined the
Trenton Police Department.

“I left the police force after I had a couple back
surgeries. I’ve been with this school ever since,”
said Cream.

Cream’s role in the district started as a part-time
job as an attendance officer conducting occasional
residency checks. As the demand for security in
schools increased, Cream’s position evolved into the
full-time job he currently holds, where he serves as
a security officer for PHS on top of his attendance
officer duties.

“I’m fortunate that the students are great here,
which makes my job a lot easier,” said Cream.

Outside of keeping PHS’s security in shape, Cream
likes bike riding and exercising. As big fans of the
shore, Cream and his wife also enjoy visiting their
beach house in Brigantine. Cream enjoys visiting his
grandchildren in Florida and Pennsylvania as well. 

PHS behind the scenes workers

Born and raised in Cranbury, New Jersey, Jennifer Li served as a Peer Group leader, a trumpet player in Studio Band, and participated in various community service activities as a student at PHS. Now, having worked as a math teacher at PHS for six years, Li teaches Pre-Calculus Accelerated, Applications and Modeling of Math, and AP Calculus AB and BC within the classrooms she used to sit in as a student. 
Li credits much of her initial desire to pursue a job in the educational field to the meaningful relationships she built with PHS teachers as a high schooler. Continuing her heavy involvement with PHS’s community and extracurriculars, Li currently serves as Student Council Advisor and has worked as a Music Mentoring program substitute teacher and Speech and Debate coach in the past. Through these activities, Li hopes to serve as a mentor figure for students both in and outside of her math classes.
“The different things I experienced as a student here make me a teacher that is more approachable. [It] gives me [a] unique connection to students in that I went through the same things [they] did,” said Li. “I had a lot of different inspiring teachers [here], and the connections I had here with my teachers made me want to come back and teach here. Mr. Bongiovi actually had a great influence on [me] and made me feel like [teaching] would be a fun career.”
Within the walls of her own classroom, Li strives to create an environment where students are not afraid to ask questions or make mistakes, especially in classes with curriculums that students often feel intimidated by, such as Pre-Calculus Accelerated. To address students’ unfamiliarity with new and complex concepts, Li tries to explore the practical application of them.
“Math is in so many different things in the real world, even if we don’t realize it. Everybody’s using that in their daily lives,” said Li. “In my Applications and Modeling of Math class, we’re working on a project on how to buy a car. That’s [something] people actually experience in real life, so I think that’s important to be able to learn about that now.”
To help maximize student engagement with course material, Li creates colorful in-class presentations and answer keys for study reference, drawing from her long time hobby of bullet journaling and calligraphy. However, throughout her time and experiences as a teacher, Li has learned that maintaining a patient attitude in the classroom is the best way to address student disengagement.
“Being a teacher, you often have to reteach things or be okay with kids who aren’t always paying attention and give them the chance to learn again [at] other times,” Li said. 
Li’s patient approach to teaching is noticed by her students. Carina He ’26, a student in Li’s Pre-Calculus Accelerated class, appreciates Li’s ability to create a learning environment that fits the needs of each student. 
“She puts a lot of effort into the work that she does, and she’s a really kind person,” said He. “In class, she pays a lot of attention to student participation, comprehension, and engagement.” 
Li always planned to have a teaching career. Growing up, Li’s father, an avid tuba player, encouraged her initial dream of being a music teacher, fostering her love for music. Taking after her father’s musicianship, Li began experimenting with instruments, playing piano, then the violin and later the trombone at Cranbury Middle School before ultimately choosing to play trumpet at PHS. Driven by her skills in multiple instruments and her participation in Studio Band, Li applied to various music programs including those of the Berklee College of Music, University of the Arts, UMass Amherst, Penn State, and Duquesne University. 
“I did not get into music school. Auditions were always something I was really bad at,” said Li. “My dad actually wanted me to keep pursuing music school and take a gap year to practice more, just to get more comfortable with that whole process.”
However, Li decided that continuing her education in college the following year was more important, and, drawing from her affinity for math in school, Li decided to major in math and received her bachelor’s degree from UMass Amherst. Li combined her plans to enter an educational career with her college education and taught as a teaching assistant for undergraduate college classes. 
“When I was a teaching assistant, I really liked helping my peers understand the content and being able to have that moment of ‘oh, I get it’,” Li said.
After bumping into her former physics teacher, Mark Higgins, at the gym, Li learned about an open position in PHS’s math department. Seeing it as both an opportunity to fulfill her aspirations for teaching and reconnect with her alma mater, Li ended up applying for and receiving the position of math teacher at PHS. 
“I’m actually super happy with the path I ended up on, because I wouldn’t be able to work here at PHS if I continued pursuing music,” said Li. “The culture at PHS is so different from a lot of typical high schools.” 
In her limited free time, Li enjoys playing at Tuba Christmases, a holiday gathering of tuba players, with her father during the holiday season. Despite her teaching schedule, Li still makes time for maintaining her physical health and frequents the gym, often attending gym classes and initiating workout sessions with other teachers in PHS’s math department. 
“I love the relationships I get to build [here],” said Li. “It’s crazy that I’ve seen a few rounds of students starting as freshmen and then graduating here now, and some of them I’ve still kept in touch with after graduation. I love people and being able to work with people, whether it’s my coworkers, colleagues, or the students that I get to teach.”

PHS Profile: Jennifer Li

On March 8, Principal Cecilia Birge presented the prospective new schedule for the 2024–2025 school year to the Student Achievement Committe, which will incorporate two days of 90-minute block periods, shorter Thursdays, and  minimize the rotation of letter days. To test the efficacy of this schedule, PHS will conduct a pilot run the week of June 3rd.
These schedule changes are part of a district initiative to maximize student learning through increased structure and stability in school instruction. 
The rotating letter day schedule that PHS currently follows is unaccommodating to unexpected calendar interruptions, the expansion of school programs and classes, and makes the scheduling of PHS staff meetings and substitute teacher arrangements difficult. Following the current schedule’s arrangements, P.E. classes and science classes must be placed back-to-back on lab days. This scheduling marriage between P.E. and science classes creates an inflexibility for the scheduling of “singleton” classes, or classes that only meet once a day. 
“Classes will become more even,” said Senior Class President Aidan Linkov ‘24. “Because of the constraint of the schedule [that is] locked up by science and P.E., when we have someone mentoring an ESL class or some other special needs, then that’s almost half of the day they’re scheduled, and there’s no flexibility.”
Class size restrictions and inonsistencies exacerbate the scheduling issue.
“When you couple that with constrained physical space where some classrooms only have 15 kids [and] other classrooms have 35, we’re talking about learning loss for students and making it difficult for teachers,” said PHS Principal Cecilia Birge.
One of the statistics that guided the administration’s decision to reform the schedule was the room utilization rate. According to Birge, at an optimal level, the room usage in a school should be at about 85 percent, but this year, it has reached upwards of 93 percent.
“After the pandemic, with additional enrollment, as well as the expansion of our current PHS programs, we really maxed out our facilities, especially with classroom space ... [t]he issue is that we need extra classrooms in case of a leak or  relocation,” Birge said.
In line with maximizing student learning, the addition of 90-minute blocks on B2 and B3 days aims to give teachers more time to further implement project-based learning. Additionally, 45 minutes of gym classes on B2 and B3 days are allotted to learning labs for freshmen, or a free period for upperclassmen and eligible sophomores in their second semester. 
“I want [underclassmen] to learn to earn that free ... so if they have too many absences or too many disciplinary issues, they’re going to lose that privilege,” said Birge. “We give kids a lot of freedom [at PHS], but if you don’t know how to manage that freedom, it hurts. So this schedule is intended to build up that self discipline.”
The PHS administration made  alterations to this schedule with the input of various teachers and staff using a survey. Additionally, the Bell Schedule Committee, established in 2017, revised the schedule before presentation to the Master Schedule Committee and PPS Board of Education. The new schedule’s removal of lab days means science teachers lose 28 minutes of instructional time per schedule cycle, so Birge maintained close communication with the science department through the process, which began in early December. Birge also met with student board liaisons and the PHS Student Council to discuss the changes.
“The [new schedule] went through multiple iterations and was a collaboration between everybody in the building,” said Birge. “This is important because our bell schedule plays a critical role in structuring our learning environment and has a big impact on teaching and learning, because it affects everything from the pacing of lessons to student and teacher well-being ... it drives the kind of school that we have.”

PHS to change bell schedule


   On March 18, 2020, Princeton Public Schools was mandated to close its doors in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Students logged onto virtual classrooms, using a video call platform that seemingly came out of nowhere: Zoom. Although many initially celebrated the “two weeks off school,” the “vacation” transformed into a quagmire of mask restrictions, endless screens, and a lasting health and educational calamity. Four years after the pandemic first began, PHS has returned to relative normalcy while nonetheless retaining significant changes left by the COVID-19 era, including adjustments in teaching methods, approaches to student well-being, and the overall culture of the school.
   Adapting to the virtual classroom during the pandemic, teachers were pushed to find and create new online resources to maintain student learning quality. The pandemic-induced embracement of digital learning tools allowed for online data collection during science classes and helped simulate in-person instruction. Many of these digital tools, including Formative, Gizmos, Pear Deck, and PHET Simulation, are now integrated into the post-COVID-19 classroom. 
   “I've always wanted to bring technology into my classroom. I think that I took the time [from COVID-19] to put a lot of my direct instruction online, and because I had the time to do that, it means that I lecture less in class and I allow for hands-on activities more in class,” said Chemistry teacher Janine Giammanco. “I think that the engagement in my class has really gone up because it's more student driven and it's more hands-on.” 
    However, not all teachers openly embraced technology even after COVID-19. Although online instruction forced teachers to move their classrooms onto Canvas, after this pandemic-led imperative no longer existed, some teachers moved away from online technology and back to traditional classroom teaching methods.
   “There's some teachers of all disciplines that are just in love with technology. You could gamify the Latin classroom. But I just think Latin lends itself to the way it's been learned for millennia,” said Latin teacher Nolis Arkoulakis. “There's also just a desire to make people interact with one another [more]. After COVID, people just wouldn't even speak to me, let alone to their colleagues [and peers].”
   Science teacher Alexander Henderson also finds that while the pandemic-adopted learning tools helped facilitate virtual instruction, the increased reliance on technology and digital communication during and after COVID-19 has made students more reluctant to partake in verbal classroom discussions with other students and teachers. 
   “I use a program called Formative where all my students submit answers as we're going through the lesson … because I've noticed that after the pandemic, a lot of students don't want to talk. They don't want to actually participate anymore … so to have it where everyone can submit their answer without even having to talk … I can assess everyone in general at the same time, which has been a very big benefit,” Henderson said. 
    In addition to increasing academic disengagement, the lack of structural classroom expectations during COVID-19 decreased the level of self-discipline and self-regulation generally expected of high school students. 
   “Students basically figured out that there is only so far we can humanly go to hold them accountable, and some have continued to take advantage of that,” said Gable. “There is a certain suspension of disbelief that is required for school to be a functioning institution, and virtual schooling really stretched that to the breaking point.”
   After students returned to in-person classrooms, the decrease in self-discipline inherited from virtual schooling extended beyond disengagement in core subjects and into disorganization in extracurricular activities, such as band. 
   “When we came back from COVID, [I] had to reintroduce practices and routines that were usually part of the fabric of what a band kid would know before they got [to PHS]. Showing up with your instrument and having your music and being ready to play was not standard practice,” said PHS Band Director Joe Bongiovi. “We had to actually teach a lot of basics that we didn't usually have to teach for band class.”
   As a response to the lack of student organization in the classroom, helping students learn and act on the expectations of a functional classroom has been a primary objective of many teachers. Anna Rose Gable, an ESL teacher at PHS, aims to rebuild the peer connectedness of the post-pandemic classroom through activities that encourage student-to-student interactions. 
   “Within my classrooms, I've really tried to build community not just between myself and my students, but also from student to student,” said Gable. “Even with my native-English-speaking students, I've found that students need a lot more structure now to meaningfully communicate with one another in small groups. I've become quite fond of using the ‘bicycle chain’ (also known as ‘speed-dating’) method of rapid one-on-one conversations about a fairly narrow set of questions.”
   Many teachers also underlined the heightened importance of understanding and supporting students on a personal level. Giammanco noted the increased need for structure in student interactions and highlighted the efforts to be sensitive to students facing challenges. 
   “I think that students want to know that you have their best interests at heart,” said Giammanco. “I've been [trying] to be particularly sensitive to students who may have late assignments or are struggling in class. I always try to contact their guidance counselor, contact home and talk to them personally more than I ever did before COVID, because you just don't know what students may still be struggling with after the pandemic.”
   To more extensively address elevated mental health struggles in students during and after COVID-19, PPS partnered with Effective School Solutions (ESS), a firm in New Jersey that focuses almost exclusively on adolescent mental health, in order to implement mental and behavioral support programs in Princeton Middle School and PHS. 
   “[This] is a level of service that we’ve never had before [the pandemic]. It’s what’s called tier two services. What’s provided by our counselors is basic tier one services, like check ins. If you have something that you are feeling uncomfortable about, you can go into their office and they help you to jump over [that] hurdle,” said PHS Principal Cecilia Birge. “Tier two is elevated in that you are not able to regulate emotions for an extended period of time that it’s creating a negative impact on your academics. That’s when we do more focused and more frequent checkins.”
   The administration has also been actively engaged in implementing initiatives to foster a renewed emphasis on in-person learning.
   “We don’t allow remote learning anymore and we recognize the value of face to face learning. We are creating a lot more opportunities for students to interact with each other in person so I think that we have really jumped through quite a lot of barriers and made significant progress.” said Birge. “[For example], 9th graders have learning labs [so that they] are all sitting together and you are not all sitting separately in the hallway with your devices to yourself; it’s not alone time, you are sitting together and are expected to do your work. There are also even PTO meetings that are all in person.”
   Birge outlines the school’s proactive steps in instilling structured frameworks across various facets of student life, acknowledging the importance of maintaining a balance between academic freedom and a strong sense of personal responsibility as well as ethical decision-making. 
   “[Over] the last two years or so, [PHS] began to build more structures around different activities,” Birge said. “One example [of this] is the student handbook; at the beginning of the school year we asked every student to sign the academic integrity pledge. [Additionally], there [are] more building monitors and teachers on duty. [We are] observing so that we as an administrative team can take that feedback and design programs and really enhance students’ leadership skills to [return to the normalcy of years prior].”
   Building on the commitment to address mental health challenges, the administration's efforts also aim to cultivate an environment where students can thrive not just academically but also engage in meaningful social interactions. 
   “Little by little we hope that students climb up that ladder of appreciating face to face communication, not replaceable by chatting with chat gpt or some bot on the internet, because we can develop trust and relationships when we have personal interactions among all of us,” said Birge. 


Four years after the pandemic began: how PHS has changed

“You’re not oppressed. You’re not an oppressor. Stop HiTOPS,” reads the neon sign of Princeton Public Schools parent Luke Alberts, protesting the organization in front of Princeton Middle School. The demonstrations began January 11 and took place for 30 minutes each morning for the following two weeks, where Alberts and several other parent protesters demanded revisions to the HiTOPS’s curriculum taught in PMS classrooms. 
PPS’s partnership with HiTOPS began through the state-mandated program Pathways to Racial Literacy. Under New Jersey’s diversity, equity, and inclusion mandate for schools, the “Identity Pathway,” a section of the curriculum making up three of the 25 total courses, focuses on helping students develop their identities and contains discussions about gender, gender expression, and other LGBTQ+ topics. Former PMS counselor, Thomas Foley, now HiTOPS’s Senior Education Manager, teaches the courses together with fellow PMS educators.
“What the lessons are trying to do is to try to help students understand…how others see the world maybe a bit differently,” said Kimberly Tew, PPS’s Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction. “It’s about just understanding that we all come from different walks of life. All these different components; our religion, our ethnicity, our socioeconomic status … [and] our gender identity [all] shape how we walk in the world.”
However, several concerned community members see this differently. Junglien Chen, Luke Alberts, and two unidentified protesters participating in demonstrations outside of the school are a part of a larger group of 15 PPS parents organized under the name Parents for Responsible Education Policy. They have claimed that HiTOPS’s educational rhetoric goes beyond the state-mandated “Pathways’’ program and introduces ideas not suited for middle school students. Among these ideas is the “oppressor-oppressed” dynamic, which PREP alleges leads to unfairness and polarization in the classroom, in part through classing students into binary groups of privileged and oppressed. 
“The concern is that such a divisive approach may not only oversimplify complex social  dynamics but also sow discord among students. [The “oppressor-oppressed” dynamic] fosters a mindset where individuals labeled as ‘oppressed’ might feel justified in their wrongful actions, attributing them to external forces rather than internal choices,” stated the PREP website. “This approach … encourages an externalization of fault [and] detracts from a student’s development of character and accountability.”
The Princeton Board of Education discussed the wider community’s views on both HiTOPS’s curriculum and PREP protests during a meeting on January 30. The meeting provided a platform for PPS parent and member of the LGBTQ+ community Thomas Perc to raise concerns about HiTOPS protestors’ alleged intimidation of children. 
“What I said [at the board meeting] was my response to seeing two middle-aged men protesting during drop off and addressing children,” said Perc. “I heard from my daughter and other students that they were engaging with some of the students, and I just thought it was highly inappropriate, very misguided, and downright wrong.”
HiTOPS declined to speak to the Tower concerning these issues.
Several months earlier in September 2023, HiTOPS had also faced widespread criticism after Project Veritas, a national right-wing advocacy group, released a video alleging HiTOPS’s stance against parental consent and “opt-outs” for several of their lessons. HiTOPS responded by stating that the allegations were false and the result of a misrepresentation of an interview. Led by former superintendent Carol Kelley, PPS concurrently denounced Project Veritas’s accusations.
“Our goal is that all students have access to developmentally appropriate, positive, and medically-accurate sex education. We respect a parent’s right to opt their child out of a class or activity. We hope they won’t, but we respect their right to do so,” HiTOPS’s website emphasized in an official statement.
At the January 30 board meeting, Perc emphasized that the middle school was not the right setting to advocate for change. 
“This is a state mandatory curriculum. It’s not decided by Principal Burr. It’s not decided by sixth graders. It’s not decided by the Board of Education. It is decided by the governor and [the curriculum] comes down from the state,” Perc said.
At the recent board meeting, Dafna Kendal, the BOE chair, shared an anecdote of a concerned mother whose seventh-grade daughter expressed fear of the protesters’ presence and reportedly asked whether it was necessary to hide from them. Kendal went on to suggest that the protesters continue their protests in front of the municipal Valley Road building instead of the middle school.
“[PREP has] every right to protest on the sidewalk, that’s public property, [but] you know this is all about kids … if someone’s actions are detrimental to children, they should think about their actions,” said Kendal. “And that’s not to say they shouldn’t protest [but] maybe they need to examine how they are protesting and … why it is being reported that some kids are intimidated.”
However, anti-HiTOPS protesters object to accusations of intimidation and deny approaching or speaking to children. Protestor Luke Alberts claimed that the only intimidation suffered by students was a product of immaturity and adverse sensitivity.
“As for children claiming to be ‘intimidated’ or ‘scared,’ grow up. What’s so threatening about a pair of middle-aged doofuses with signs telling anyone who reads them that they’re neither privileged or oppressed?  Life isn’t always going to cater to your worldview, which, in the end, can be a wonderful thing,” Alberts said.
Alberts argued for the necessity of protesting in front of the school as a measure of publicity and legitimization.
“If I held up a sign in front of the admin building on Valley Road, do you really think we’d be having this conversation?” said Alberts. “I would just be dismissed as some crank. Ditto in front of the state house.”
At PHS, HiTOPS works with several clubs, including the Gender and Sexuality Alliance club, and offers both a racial literacy elective and the online Princeton Introduction to Racial Literacy course. Additionally, the state-mandated racial and sexual literacy requirements are met through the health, Peer Group, and Teen Pep programs.
“The high school doesn’t [work with HiTOPS] from a curriculum perspective, but some of our clubs, because of their involvement with HiTOPS and the middle school and the community, bring it into the building,” said Birge. “[HiTOPS is] an important organization that provides support for some of our students at PHS.”
In discussing sensitive topics, Birge advocated for engaging in open-minded conversations rather than silencing opposing views. She highlighted the importance of discussion to break away from binary perspectives.
“I think my interpretation of this whole event is to ask what’s the best way to educate our kids to make sure that they grow up to be critical thinkers and be brave enough to meet the world’s challenges,” said Birge.“It’s not that one person is always gonna be progressive and the other always conservative, it’s really a spectrum. …  [We want them to] understand … and figure out what’s the best way, most inclusive way, to bring everyone in the audience so that [we] can have a diversified society and promote peace.”

Weeks of protests continue discussion regarding HiTOPS curriculum

   From terrifying podcasts narrating grisly details about stabbings to Netflix series debuting  ruthless serial killers almost every month, the public’s growing obsession with true crime is undeniable. Unsolved murder cases are often treated by social media like they are works of fiction, with amateur “internet sleuths” pointing fingers at innocent people in an attempt to “solve” the case. While it is important for the public to stay aware of dangerous killers and be informed of crime cases, true crime content often prioritizes profit through sensationalizing their cases, leading to a desensitization towards violence.
    People love true crime content; true crime podcasts experienced a 66 percent growth in listeners from 2019 to 2022 according to InsiderRadio. YouTube’s analytics show that true crime content has been viewed over two billion times in 2019, a 30 percent growth from the year before. The desire for consuming true crime content seems innocent; after all, curiosity is perfectly natural, especially when it comes to distressing or disturbing situations. It’s very logical that one might want to know more. However, true crime content often focuses on sensationalizing a case, as the gruesome nature of certain crimes is turned into something marketable for views. For example, in true crime podcasts such as “Killer Queens,” “True Crime and Cocktails,” and “My Favorite Murder,” the discussion of disturbing details becomes coupled with cocktail drinking, makeup sessions, cracking disturbing murder puns, and snacking. The rising popularity of true crime content results in social media algorithms pushing similar content to more viewers, further incentivizing true crime content creators to continue releasing content that can generate clicks. This vicious cycle results in an emotional detachment from crime cases that desensitizes consumers, as they tend to forget that a real person has suffered through every violent detail mentioned in the video or podcast.
   True crime content is often created under the guise of educating and cautioning consumers; however, there is a fine line between being informative and being exploitative. In 2022, Netflix’s biographical thriller titled “Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” aired and quickly became a sensation. While millions of viewers watched Evan Peter’s portrayal of Jefferey Dahmer on the big screen, a fanbase began to romanticize the character and eventually Dahmer himself, creating fan edits and even sympathy posts for the murderer. With fans’ glorification of the show’s depicted psychopathic behavior, the series served less as an informational film and more as an exploitative spectacle romanticizing Dahmer’s life, with none of its revenue going towards helping the distressed victims’ families. Many of these families have also deemed the film as “retraumatizing”; for example, Rita Isbell, the sister of Errol Lindsay, one of Dahmer's victims, has said that she wasn’t even contacted by Netflix for consent prior to the series’ creation, even though it featured a direct portrayal of her as one of the characters. 
   This exploitative behavior has also been evident in other shows and streaming services. Hulu released the true crime series “The Act” in 2019, based upon the controversial and nuanced case of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy (a mental health condition in which the caregiver makes up or causes an illness or injury for the person under their care) from her mother. In desire to escape her mother’s abuse, Blanchard ultimately murdered her mother, later sentenced to ten years of jail time. It was only two years after her conviction that Hulu began production for “The Act.” Blanchard claimed in an interview that the retelling of her story was dramatized and inaccurate, with certain details being altered without her consent and compensation. Her public statements condemning the show were ignored by Hulu, and Blanchard claimed the show’s producers would refuse to pick up her phone calls. Exploitative true crime content is uniquely harmful, as it often rewrites victim’s stories and puts them on blast in front of a wide, global audience. Especially in regard to large studio productions, victims and primary sources are often disregarded and silenced. Cases like Blanchard and Dahmer show the blatant disregard many studios hold for ethical media production, and make it clear that their intentions are to profit instead of spreading awareness. 
   In all forms of true-to-life content in the media, it is important to remember that there are real people behind these stories, and in the case of true crime content, real victims who suffer tremendous physical and psychological trauma as a result. PHS students are constantly exposed to content surrounding real-life tragedies every day, and without this awareness, it’s easy to become desensitized to tragedies and dehumanize its victims. Before consuming any sort of content that contains a degree of real-life violence, it’s important to reflect on if your intentions are to entertain or to inform yourself.

Killing curiosity: the growing obsession with true crime

On December 2, an audience gathered in PHS’ Black Box Theater for the first-ever TedXWitherspoonSt Youth event. Hosted by Elizabeth Tian ’24 and Oliver Huang ’24, the event showcased talks delivered by high school students, college students, and professionals surrounding a central theme: “Change in a Changing World.”

“This theme was created to tackle issues present within society, questions [for] the future, and how we can better tomorrow through our actions today,” said Tian. “The world around us is constantly changing, and it's hard to navigate and define the challenges of change and how to react to them.”

During the night, the speakers detailed the intersections between personal, local, and global change through niche anecdotes. Iniya Karimanal ’26 discussed how to effectively utilize anger to create change, drawing inspiration from her own experiences. As an avid animal lover, Karimanal created a nonprofit sticker business donating to animal shelters, channeling her anger regarding the common euthanization of animals that are not adopted in shelters. 

“I think it’s important to take a more holistic view on anger. A lot of us think of anger, and we think immediately of it being negative and destructive,” said Karimanal. “We can do a better job of extracting positive energy from our anger.” 

Growing up with childhood apraxia of speech, Elina Csapo ’24, another speaker and senior at the Hun School, also talked about how anger can be a useful vessel in creating global change and improvement. In her presentation, Csapo shared how she expressed her frustration in struggling to find a supportive community for kids with hidden disabilities by creating Young Able Voices. Establishing the organization when she was 17, she aims for it to be a safe place for kids with hidden disabilities to connect and find support.
“Having community is something that is very special,” said Csapo. “I hope people take away from my presentation that everyone has a bright future, and to not judge a person by their quirks or their differences.”

With positive feedback from a majority of the audience, many attendees enjoyed the central theme of change that tied all nine presentations together. 

“I really liked how everything was about change and finding positivity in weakness,” said attendee Simryn Patel ’26. “I feel like more people should be introduced to this opportunity.”

The event was not only an insightful experience for audience members, but also a rewarding opportunity for the speakers.

“I [was] able to meet really cool people,” said speaker Priya Brunnermeier ’25, another presenter at the event. “I liked the research ahead of it and [felt] satisfied after knowing that [I was] able to overcome [my] initial fear in the moment.”

Behind the night were months of planning by Tian, Huang, and PHS math teacher Brent Ferguson. Starting in February, they had to navigate the process of obtaining a TEDx license, finding speakers with unique topics, getting sponsors, and contacting photographers and videographers.

“[The] speakers wrote their talks independently, but we provided them with speech coaches and resources to aid them with their talks,” Tian said. “One of our biggest goals with this event was to inspire others to think about change and their futures, whether it be how they react to personal issues or broader issues like climate change or policy.”

Following the success of the event, Tian emphasized its ultimate goal of bringing out underrepresented voices and untold stories, spurring conversations that can create change in the world.

“I loved listening to my speakers present their talks. It felt so rewarding to see them confidently speak their stories on stage to a focused, engaged audience,” said Tian. “It felt like all of their and our hard work paid off.”

PHS holds Inaugural TEDxWitherspoonSt Youth Event

   On November 16, Princeton Public Schools’ English Language Learner and Title 1 families gathered in Princeton Middle School for the third annual Parent Community Night. The Night included Interactive workshops on family financial planning, technology assistance, and K-12 academic support that hoped to provide a way for attendees to connect and learn about available resources.

   “[Trinidad] Rodriguez and I decided to create this event after noticing many of our ESL families requesting outreach to help understand and know of all the offerings within the school system in the United States,” said Vanessa Bernal, a co-organizer of PPS’s Parent Community Night along with Rodriguez. “Both of us [grew] up with families who immigrated from other countries, [so we] felt this was so important and necessary to do.” 

   At the event, student volunteer translators from PHS were available to assist non-English speaking parents in registering their children for school athletics, the Dual Language Immersion program, and specific school counseling. Several local Princeton organizations — including the Princeton Public Library, Community House, YMCA, the Princeton Health Department, HiTOPS, and Corner House — were also invited to share out-of-school resources with attendees. From providing free academic tutoring for low-income students to helping attendees schedule flu and COVID-19 vaccinations, the variety of community offerings all work towards ensuring that families can have their needs addressed. 

   As an effort to build a sense of community among families, a free shared dinner was hosted at the event with the help of a $1000 Princeton Regional Educational Support Staff Association grant. Following the meal, attendees listened to a keynote speaker, Levi Geurrero, share tips on how to support their childrens’ education, as well as his experience in K-12 and higher education as an immigrant student. 

   “I [want] to be a voice for people that don’t have a voice,” said Guerrero. “I feel like if [people] see someone that looks like them, speaks their language, and comes from the same background, [then] they can relate to them. It’s great to have families engaged in [their] kids’ educational future.”

  Growing up speaking English as a second language in PPS, Guerrero understands the importance of creating a school environment that fosters cultural inclusion and enrichment. As a multicultural school district, PPS’s English Language Learners Program plays an integral role in bridging connections between students who are learning English and their peers. Having at least one ESL teacher in each school, the growing program develops student English proficiency in four fundamental skills: reading, listening, speaking, and writing. 
	
   “[School] districts are required to provide programs taught by ESL certificated teachers if there are ten or more [ESL] students,” said Priscilla Russel, the District Supervisor of World Languages, ESL/Bilingual, and Dual Immersion Programs since 2004. “Our ESL students contribute to the demographic and cultural diversity that characterizes our schools.”

   Individualized classes for ESL students are based on their English screening performances, a language proficiency assessment required for non-native English speakers upon registration in the school district. At PHS, students with limited English proficiency can enroll in Welcome Center I, II, or III, ESL English, History, Science, or Math, where they develop English vocabulary through specialized instruction.

   With the goal of eventually integrating ESL students into mainstream classes, students are taught and expected to complete grade-level history, science, literature, and math assignments in English, allowing them to strengthen their English proficiency while progressing alongside the school curriculum. While classes are primarily taught in English, ESL instructors put emphasis on creating an environment that promotes bilingualism and respects linguistic diversity. 

   “We always emphasize the importance of home languages,” said Ted Holsten, an ESL teacher at Littlebrook Elementary School. “All studies show that students who continue speaking and learning in their home languages have an easier time learning English.”

    At PPS’s elementary schools, ESL lessons combine grade school activities with formal English instruction, with students playing games, singing songs, and writing Halloween stories. 
 
  “I like to let students shape their learning when possible. Some beginners want to start trying to speak right away; some are quieter and are not comfortable trying to speak,” said Holsten. “I try to be sensitive to each student’s personality and interests. I enjoy seeing the way that students are motivated by wanting to communicate with each other and help each other.”

   Opportunities for enrolling in adult ESL classes, or English Conversation Groups, at Princeton Public Library were also offered at the Parent Community Night. 

   “What helps the families the most this evening is just being able to connect, to see themselves in the speaker and the teachers, and to see their children be in the school building and connecting with other students,” said Bernal. “That sense of community is really important.”

Families gather for annual ELL Parent Community Night

First dreaming about becoming a history teacher in the first grade, this fall marks Social Studies Teacher Elizabeth Taylor’s 13th year teaching at PHS. Growing up in Wichita, Kansas, Taylor debated between journalism and teaching history in high school, but the difficulty of attending a journalism college and the lack of a newspaper at her high school compelled her to choose education as a more secure option. 
After receiving her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Boston University, Taylor taught United States and World History at Westford Academy in Massachusetts for nine years before she and her husband moved to South Jersey, where it was closer to family. Budget cuts caused by the 2008 Recession led to fewer available teaching positions, with the only one being PHS at the time. She took the offer to work at PHS knowing the challenge and reputation of the district.

“I chose education over journalism [because] I thought that I had a more secure job as a teacher. I shadowed a reporter at a local newspaper for a day during my senior year and remember them telling me that to get a job as a reporter, … you had to have worked on your high school newspaper. My school didn’t even have a newspaper, so I figured I didn’t really have a chance,” said Taylor. “I liked history; I was good at it, and I had several great history teachers. My mom was also a teacher, as was an aunt and a cousin, so I could easily picture myself as a teacher.”

Taylor strives to create a learning environment that is both intellectually engaging and inspires students to consider different perspectives. In order to keep students engaged, as well as make each year different for herself, Taylor adjusts her curriculum each year to incorporate current events and new resources that fit the needs of the new class. 

“Current events definitely help to make each year unique; this has especially been true over the last several years. Also, getting a new group of students, with their own interests and personalities; realizing that students in one period aren’t as engaged by a topic as students in an earlier period were, and moving on more quickly,” Taylor said.

In addition to social studies, Taylor also teaches Sociology Accelerated at PHS. Because of her limited knowledge on sociology and the time she had to allocate to her baby at home, Taylor was initially reluctant to adopt the new course. However, after five weeks of teaching the subject, Taylor fell in love with the creativity it allowed as well its applicability to students’ lives.

“Professionally, it is the best thing that has happened to me. … I love that it’s a rigorous course without the pressure of an AP exam,” Taylor said.

Having been regarded as a tough but fair teacher by previous and current students, Taylor finds that both of her courses teach students study skills and time management habits, which they can continue to apply in high school and throughout college.

“‘Tough but fair’ sounds about right. I hope to create an environment that is intellectually engaging and where students feel supported as they try new things and perspectives,” Taylor said.

Through her teaching, Taylor hopes to develop students’ desires to keep up with current events and become active members of society. Emma Liu ’26, a student in Taylor’s AP U.S. History class, appreciates her commitment to helping her students.

“She provides a lot of support for her students and really tries to help them succeed whether [that’s] in the classroom or for the AP Exam,” Liu said.

Outside of the classroom, Taylor strives to find a balance between work obligations and spending time with family.

“The demands on teachers are simply too great, and it definitely got much harder once I had kids,” said Taylor. “The best I have done is to ignore anything PHS-related during the summer, and to instead focus on the rest of my life as much as possible, … but during the school year, teaching takes up the majority of my time and attention.”

In her limited free time, Taylor enjoys gardening, dancing, and reading. Having been a dancer her whole life, she finds that her weekly tap dance classes give her the opportunity to unwind from the stresses of teaching.
“I take an adult tap class now that is probably the best hour of the week for me, because I’m just focusing on something that I need and not what my students need, or my kids need, or my husband needs,” Taylor said.
As her two children grow up, Taylor notes how she’s been able to relate much more to her students and their ambitious high school classes and extracurriculars as she learns to deal with her own children’s ambitions.
“I see high school students who are just trying to do it all. … They want to take five AP classes, be president of this club, etc. … and as a teacher, there’s just not enough hours in the day to do all of this, right?” Taylor said. “Now as a parent, I’m struggling to make those same types of decisions because it’s not like we’re pushing them into these things … and it’s really hard as a parent to say no when it’s something that they’re passionate about, because you want to encourage their passions, but you also don’t want them to burn out. … So, I definitely have more sympathy for my students as I watch my children navigate this themselves.”
For incoming and current APUSH students, Taylor hopes that they recognize that the class is much more than just learning history. She stresses how all of the challenges that come with taking APUSH are what makes a student’s journey in her class so special.

“A lot of it is about the journey that they go through over the course of the year. APUSH is a really hard class, but at the end of the year, students overwhelmingly tell me how worth it it was and how they learned so much more than just US history, and even more than just how to be a historian,” said Taylor. “I like seeing the journey from how they first approach the class, and what they think their goals are, what they think they’re going to get out of it, and then seeing at the end of the year, how much that has evolved.”

PHS Profile: Elizabeth Taylor

  In the past, celebrities were shining stars: singers, dancers and politicians only seen by fans on the black screens of television. Now, in the age of unrestrained usage of social media, the distance between celebrities and fans is stripped. From convincing fans to purchase a product they endorse to imposing their views on important world events and issues, celebrities and public figures now hold the power to influence an impressionable audience with the click of a button. 

  After the senseless killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor in 2020, the Black Lives Matter movement saw a massive influx of attention on various media. From trending Twitter “blacklivesmatter” hashtags to the 28 million Instagram users who participated in “Blackout Tuesday,” publicly proclaiming support on social media for BLM was deemed the right thing to do, and keeping silent was perceived as immoral and almost racist. Brands and celebrities rode on this social media wave, blacking out their social media profile pictures and professing their support to the movement in posts. While these popular gestures were intended to show solidarity with the movement, it set a larger precedent that activism simply meant announcing one’s alignment with a cause without the intention of further support. 

  Mass distribution of misguided statements is the central cause for the spread of misinformation, an all too common consequence of celebrity “activism.” A study conducted by researchers at Reuters Institution in 2022 found that 20 percent of posts containing misinformation about COVID-19 were created by influencer profiles. Even more damaging, because of their large monopoly on social media, celebrity posts on important issues often overshadow expert opinions and helpful resources posted by lesser known accounts, devaluing the function of professional journalism. The often performative nature of celebrity activism becomes clear upon nuanced situations such as the Israeli-Palestinian war, which saw much less celebrity engagement. Given the extreme nuance of the conflict, there was no longer a clear-cut, “politically-correct” side to side with or to jump on the bandwagon for. Many fans blasted their idols upon observing their “silence,” questioning why they weren’t using their platform to weigh in on the situation. However, celebrities shouldn’t be pressured to “speak up” on political issues that they have no background in when expert opinions hold more importance in informing the public. 

   The influence celebrities have on impressionable fans regarding social issues often unfolds on an emotional level rather than from factual evidence, resulting in unacceptable behaviors by hot-tempered fans that attack individuals who speak out against the misguided ideologies spread by biased public figures. For example, in April 2020, the actor Woody Harrelson shared his claim regarding the 5G network being the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic to his two million followers on Instagram. The time frame of his claims correlated with at least 20 cell tower polls being burned to the ground in the UK. Telecom employees were also harassed on the streets while attempting to set up 5G fiber optic cables. Kanye West, also known for his anti-vaccination stance, told Forbes that he believed COVID-19 vaccinations would “put chips inside of us” during the pandemic. This proven-false conspiracy theory snowballed and soon became a popular statement spread by anti-vaccine groups. Furthermore, the misinformed statements of celebrities are often regurgitated in popular media in order to generate more clicks, consequently exacerbating the spread of their falsified claims.

   As teenagers, the demographic most susceptible to celebrity influence, PHS students should be mindful of avoiding valuing their favorite celebrities' opinions over expert opinions in order to make informed decisions. In a time where rampant false information is spread online, it’s important to realize that the power of reliable research to uncover truths is longstanding and undeniable. 


Stop relying on celebrity activism

Throughout the month of October, foreign exchange students from Izumigaoka High School in Japan and Lycee Bartholdi in France arrived on PHS’ campus as a part of PHS’ foreign exchange program for the first time since 2019. There, they were greeted by  PHS Japanese and French students, who hosted them for a week. 
Both groups had the opportunity to observe classes in various subjects, creating art pieces in art class and learning about American history at PHS. Through these foreign exchange programs organized by the PHS language department, PHS and Princeton’s sister cities could exchange lifestyles and study at overseas high schools. 
“Such initiatives play a crucial role in promoting international cooperation, understanding, and friendship among students from different parts of the world,” said PHS Japanese teacher Risa Sakakibara, one of the facilitators of the program. “It's heartening to see efforts being made to deepen the bond between the U.S. and Japan through educational and cultural exchanges.”
This year marks the foreign exchange program’s 35th anniversary. The program began in 1989 during a PHS choir trip to Colmar, where former PHS French teacher Bernard Ponsan connected with the French high school Lycée Bartholdi, inviting their French students to visit PHS. This reciprocal interaction eventually developed into an official exchange program between the two schools. 
“As much as we try to maintain an immersive environment in class, [the exchange program] makes learning much more immersive because the [students] are with French people and they’re in France,” said Malachi Wood, a PHS French teacher and principal facilitator of the exchange program for 16 years. “A lot of [students] become more motivated. They’re excited to get to know somebody on that one-on-one personal level.”
Though fun, the primary purpose of these programs is to provide a new experience for students in a language-learning environment. Programs where students can interact with their language in a real life setting challenge students, but also create a unique opportunity for them to hone their speaking abilities.
“In my house, we normally speak Japanese. But in order to give the exchange student an American experience, we spoke in English the entire time,” said Seigo Iwata ‘26, a participant in the Japanese exchange program. 
While in Princeton, exchange students traveled to popular locations in town with their host students, the student providing them housing. Japanese exchange students took walks on Princeton University’s campus. Peruvian exchange students shared meals with host families in Conte’s Pizza.
“What they do is shadow an American kid, [seeing] what an American teenager would do. Their hosts can tell them what they’re doing that day or prepare something fun for them,” said Martha Hayden, a PHS Spanish teacher and facilitator of the exchange program. 
During the French exchange students stay at PHS, they shadowed their host student and attended all of their classes, even participating in the host’s extracurricular activities. When PHS French exchange program students leave for France in November, they will do the same at Lyceé Bartoldi. An exciting itinerary awaits these PHS students, featuring famous French landmarks and museums. 
“Every year, I try to do something different,” said Wood. “Usually we see the Louvre, [and] the Musée d’Orsay. What I'm excited about is that we’re going to see a World War II memorial, where the French and Germans faced off with trench warfare. And, we will visit one of the only concentration camps that was in France.”
Education aside, another big aspect of the foreign exchange programs is getting exposure to different lifestyles and cultural customs, developing lifelong connections with host families. French students dressed up to attend their first Homecoming dance on October 14. Peruvian exchange students spent their first Thanksgiving alongside their host family.    
“My favorite part is seeing the kids get to know each other. The day that we’re leaving, everybody’s crying. A lot of students [develop] lifelong friends because they stay in touch [and] visit each other,” said Wood. “I hope that their horizons are broadened.”

PHS welcomes first foreign exchange students since 2019

As the air crisps and leaves awash in warm hues, Halloween decorations begin to adorn porches and lawns. While twinkling string lights and flashy blow-up characters are visually appealing, the harm they bring to the environment is often overshadowed by their tantalizing glow. 
Modern-day capitalism has created a culture of rampant consumerism, especially within America. The detrimental effects of overconsumption on the environment are exacerbated during holiday seasons, and Halloween is no exception. A 2020 study by Planet Home found that strings of lights produce enough carbon dioxide to fill 15,500 hot air balloons. Gas emissions aside, these luminous displays also contribute a whopping 50 percent increase in light pollution to areas nearby, which disturbs the habitat and mating patterns of native animals and insects, leading to irregular populations and possible future extinction. On top of this, many households repurchase new decorations each year, creating significant amounts of plastic and electronic waste. Jack-o’-lanterns, a seemingly innocent decoration, also prove to be environmentally sinister. Waste Manage reported in a 2019 study that a colossal 18,000 tons of pumpkins are thrown away to landfills each year after fulfilling Halloween demands. When pumpkins are sent to landfill, they decompose and produce methane, a greenhouse gas over 25 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, ultimately all contributing to global warming, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. 
Trick-or-treating, dubbed the most exciting aspect of the spooky season by many, is also no treat for the environment. Lisa Morton, an environmental specialist, found in 2021 that the average trick-or-treater produces one pound of trash on Halloween night, alarming given that the holiday boasts more than 40 million trick-or-treaters. This statistic becomes even more disturbing given the fact that most trick-or-treaters  also wear a polyester-constructed costume. An environmental organization, Hubbub, conducted a study in 2019 revealing that 83 percent of Halloween costumes are created with non-recyclable, oil-based plastics, being destined to eventually dress a landfill. To put this into context, this staggering quantity of trash is equivalent to two thousand tons of plastic waste, or 83 million plastic bottles. A 2022 report by the UN Environment Programme stated that plastics accounts for 85 percent of total marine waste, being the most dangerous type of litter harming our oceans given its inability to decompose. The excess plastic created by Halloween exacerbates marine pollution, masking marine life in a suffocating film of debris, damaging the natural ecosystem. 
As residents in the Princeton area, a bulk of the responsibility to preserve our local ecosystem lies on the shoulders of Princeton High School students and their families. While keeping up with spooky traditions is an important part of American culture, Halloween doesn’t have to be scary for the environment. For example, jack-o’-lanterns and other decorations should be made with compost in mind, a process that eliminates the formation of methane gas through aeration, decreasing the greenhouse gas emissions drastically. Furthermore, decorations can be reused every year to reduce the amount of waste that comes with switching out decorations each year. Costumes could also be put together with garments made from organic fabrics like cotton, from pieces from someone's everyday wardrobe, or be donated. Celebrating Halloween and remaining environmentally friendly are not mutually exclusive; both can and should coexist in the Princeton community, and in modern society as a whole.

Trick or Treat the Environment Better

   Students who want to learn the code above should take one of the classes taught by Rida Kas, who has assumed the role of PHS’s programming teacher after the previous teacher, Graciela Elia, retired. She currently teaches AP Computer Science, Algorithms and Data Structures, Introduction to Java, and Object-Oriented Java. 
   With this year marking her ninth year as an educator, Kas is familiar with the knicks and knacks of the education industry. When she first started teaching in 2014, Kas taught computer science courses and robotics at Piscataway High School, then taught the same subjects at Plainfield High School.
   “In my new teacher's orientation, they kept telling us that there is a right way, there is a wrong way, and then there is a Princeton way. I [have] been exploring that Princeton way as a new teacher,” said Kas. “I wanted to see how that is bringing change in our students' lives, [and] how [Princeton’s] opportunities are different from what was offered in my previous school. The climate and culture that the students create [here are] … much different from my previous experiences, and I want to see what kind of impact they have on me.”
   While Kas has grown to love computer science and teaching over the years, she didn’t always plan for a career in this field. Initially, inspired by a close friend, Kas dreamed of becoming an architect and even took an entrance exam for an architectural undergraduate course.	
   “I soon realized that [architecture] was not something I saw myself doing for the rest of my life,” said Kas. “My father motivated me to [major] in IT. Today, I am so glad that I followed his vision, because [now] I see the importance of technology in the growing world.”
   Prior to becoming a teacher, Kas had three years of experience in the programming industry. After graduating from Mumbai University with a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology and a Masters in Business Administration, her first job focused on taking outdated, obsolete pieces of software and converting them to cloud services, automating software at technology firms in India and New York. 
   A defining moment in Kas’s journey to becoming a teacher was the birth of her children. Kas felt that the demanding and inflexible schedules of her previous jobs left little time to spend with her two young kids. After taking a hiatus from working, Kas searched for a profession that could fit with her experiences both as a programmer and as a parent, finding a job in the education industry to be most fitting. 
   “As a parent, I bring experience from home as to what students like to learn, how they respond to certain things, and that allows me to be a parent and teacher at the same time,” said Kas. “I had a lot of moments where I realized that [teaching] was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.”
   In her classroom, Kas hopes to create an environment where her students can not only grow intellectually but emotionally as well. 
   “My goals I originally created when I started my educational journey were more related to intellectual learning and academics. But recently I revised them.” said Kas. “I want to make sure I incorporate a lot of social emotional learning for my students, wherein you learn not just by being present, but by being happily present in the spot that you have chosen to be in.”
   Amy Lin ’25, a current student in Kas’s AP Computer Science A class, appreciates how Kas maintains an engaging and interactive environment in the classroom. 
   “She walks around helping to explain concepts, which differs a little bit from the past when we would basically learn stuff on our own, and the teacher would be there to help us in that process,” said Lin. “Ms. Kas is more hands-on and she hopes to do activities like her teaching instead of us learning by ourselves.” 
   On top of her engaging and often pun-filled lessons, her students mention her compassionate attitude and attentiveness toward student needs, making communicating their questions feel easier.
    “She keeps in mind the students’ pace so she is never going too fast or too slow,” said Vritika Singh ’26, a student in Kas’s Introduction to Computer Science class. “She puts the students first and always makes sure our questions are answered.”
   While a lot of programming-related clubs and events such as HackPHS had a chance of being suspended due to Elia's retirement, who was their previous advisor, Kas plans to take over those positions in coming years.
   “I really like the idea of HackPHS, [but] I don’t know whether I’m ready to take the responsibility this year,” said Kas. “Maybe [I will] take my time over the summer break and plan something for our students in the form of an extracurricular activity, or maybe a club.”		
   Outside of school, Kas enjoys spending time with her kids, going to the park, cooking, and, as of recently, biking.
   “These days, we’ve been doing a lot of bike riding,” said Kas. “My youngest one just learned how to ride her bike, so it’s very exciting when we go out to the trails for a bike ride.”
   At the end of the day, Kas is grateful for the opportunity to teach at PHS.
   “Princeton is such a pinnacle, a standard, [and] a beacon when it comes to education,” said Kas. When you hear the word Princeton, you know it’s coming from high standards, it’s coming from rigor, it’s coming from challenging standpoints.”


  	If (you.want == learning_code) { 	System.out.println(“Rida Kas”); }

“She’s Barbie. He’s just Ken.” This tagline from “Barbie” (2023) brought the topic of feminism into the spotlight upon the movie’s anticipated arrival in cinema. While garnering support from a majority of the public, an enraged side of the audience jumped to accuse the feminist film with claims of misandry and “toxic femininity,” with the movie even being dubbed as “anti-male propaganda” by USA TODAY. This is an all too common response to any form of feminist media, with the negative connotations surrounding feminism leading to misconceptions about the goal of the movement: achieving equal rights and opportunities for men and women.
Not all supporters of the principles of feminism are keen on identifying with the word itself. While 94 percent of people believe that gender equality is important, according to Pew Research Center, a GenForward study found that only 12 percent of Hispanic women, 21 percent of African-American women, 23 percent of Asian women, and 26 percent of white women identify as a feminist. So why the discrepancy? The hesitation to identify with the movement partly stems from the belief that all feminists are extremist. A study from Routledge found that the associations of the term “feminism” with “man-hating” and lack of femininity, an association amplified by the widespread slandering of feminist media, were key factors in peoples’ decision to reject the label of being a “feminist.” 
Especially for those born into a world where women have the right to vote, one where so much progress towards equal rights has already been made, it is easy to view modern feminism as obsolete, with ignorant individuals harboring misconceptions that men and women already have equal rights. From a 2020 study by the Pew Research Center, while 64 percent of Americans see feminism as empowering and 42 percent as inclusive, in the same sample size, 45 percent also saw it as polarizing and 30 percent as outdated. Why is feminism seen as outdated when misogyny still persists in the present day? While women make up two-thirds of the world’s working hours, they only earn 10 percent of global income, a reverberating effect of women globally spending three times as many hours on unpaid domestic work as men. Additionally, there are still 18 countries in which husbands can legally bar their wives from working. This lopsided distribution of unpaid care and domestic work prevents women from entering the labor market, with only 47 percent of women at working age participating in the labor market, compared to 74 percent of men, according to the United Nations in 2020. While achieving perfect 50:50 male to female ratios in sex-based economic studies is unlikely, feminism aims for equal opportunities so that sex isn’t a burdensome factor in an individual’s livelihood or career aspirations. Currently, women make up two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population, a result of gender discrimination stemming from the normalization of women’s sole roles as family caretakers in patriarchal social systems. Poorer communities often favor boys when investing in education, while girls face large amounts of gender-based violence at school. These are all factors contributing to the gender gap in education, a major accelerant of the patriarchy. Under the patriarchal social system, men hold a disproportionate amount of power in society. Out of the 11,000 people who have served in the U.S. House of Representatives throughout history, only 375 have been women. Even today, only 28.7 percent of Congress are women. Being underrepresented in politics directly leads to being underrepresented in decision-making at all levels, consequently suppressing the female voice, undermining their ability to rule on important regulations regarding female focused issues. The International Parliamentary Union conducted research proving that an increased presence of women in politics had a positive impact in moving issues of violence against women’s health and education onto the political agenda. The ideals that feminism stands for cannot be silenced when so much misogyny and underrepresentation of women in many fields continues to exist.
What anti-feminists often fail to notice is that the patriarchy, the very social structure feminism aims to deconstruct, ultimately harms both men and women. Under the patriarchy, a man’s sense of personal worth is reduced to shallow outward achievements: the amount of money he makes, his social standing, the attention he gets from women. Without valuing and loving themselves based on holistic properties, men may feel worthless and easily disposable, and struggle under the expectations set up for them by a patriarchal society. The rigid gender roles that define “masculinity” also pressure men to not seek emotional help when needed, contributing a significant influence on the rise of male suicide rates, with men dying by suicide four times more than women.
As more media begins to focus on feminism, it’s important to interpret them with a clear eye and remember feminism’s principles of equality. PHS students who wish to become allies for marginalized communities can begin by assessing their own privileges and understanding the true principles of social justice movements. When having conversations about marginalization, instead of promoting division, it is important to maintain an open mind and respect for others so that these equality issues can be effectively tackled. Ultimately, achieving equality starts with having some empathy.

Feminism is Misunderstood

Shopping for a cause: The commercialization of social movements co

Adding another year to the decades prom has been celebrated by PHS, June 1 brought together upperclassmen at The Westin Princeton at Forrestal Village for a night of festivities, starting at 6:30 p.m. The spotlight fell on a picturesque scenery, with gowns flowing elegantly across the dance floor surrounded by floral, candlelit tables. 
After arriving at The Westin, attendees enjoyed a social hour paired with hors d’oeuvres, the boasting of a myriad of appetizers, followed by an evening of catered dining — serving chicken parmesan with salad — and DJ’ed dancing that wrapped up at 10:30 p.m. Photo booths complete with colorful props and a karaoke station were set up around the venue. To top it all off, a grand chandelier sparkled overhead, glittering as the light show illuminated the clear glass.
For most attendees, the night started well before 6:30. Groups of friends and their dates gathered to get ready for prom together, taking group photos to capture long lasting memories.
“We got together and took pictures, it was like a pre-prom,” said Rohun Chivate ‘23. 
Many attendees agreed that the highlight of prom was the music. Colorful strobe lights flashed across the dance floor accompanied by musical hits, making for a night of high energy dance moves, romantic slow waltzes, and even a brief crowd surf. Some memorable song favorites included Pitbull’s “Fireball,” Lil Uzi Vert’s “Just Wanna Rock,” and Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again.” 
“The music was like something you would hear in a club. It was popping and thrilling,” said Marsden Edler ‘23. 
Behind the energetic, candlelit night was months of planning by the prom committee, which started having weekly meetings in October. In addition to narrowing down a venue and theme, which upperclassmen voted on through Canvas polls, details such as food, specific decor, and activities were discussed and narrowed down by the committee. For Heather Harris, teacher supervisor of the prom committee, seeing these visions play out on prom night was especially rewarding. 
“The theme this year was candlelit nightfall, so there [were] warm, glowing candles, nice flowers, and seating. It’s like a nice restaurant dinner, but prettier. It focused more on orangish [lighting] and more of an intimate setting,” said Ashlena Brown ’24, junior class president and member of the prom committee. 
An integral part of the longstanding high school tradition are promposals, elaborate requests to be someone’s date at prom. Many PHS juniors and seniors honored this tradition during this year, creating promposal posters full of puns and inside jokes. Most of these affectionate gestures were displayed on a PHS instagram page called “phspromposals_2023”, which contains over 1000 posts with promposals dating back to 2014.
“I think promposals are the best part of the experience — you get to see what jokes people make. [Mine] was a poster after this one baseball game I had, and it [had] a very big Parks and Recreation reference,” said Matty Baglio ’23, senior class president. 
Promposals were not limited to be between love birds, as attendees often “prom-posed” to their close friends.
“Promposals are really fun, especially if you prompose to your friends, I think it can be really funny,” said Hermy Berteloot ‘23. “I proposed to my friend and it was an inside joke between us. People were looking at us weird, but I had fun.” 
Throughout the decades, another consistent component of prom is the presence of elaborate gowns and suits. Attendees often dressed to match, wearing ties corresponding with the color of their date’s dress. Others honored their culture, dancing in traditional gowns such as qipao and sarees. For many attendees, outfit shopping before prom was an entertaining and unforgettable way to connect with family and friends. 
“I picked out my dress with my mom last year and again this year. It’s really fun because it’s a way for us to spend time together. She also tried on some dresses which were pretty funny,” said Berteloot. “It was also a way for her to also enjoy the last memories of me in high school.”
This year’s prom was deemed a success by attendees, having a large event turnout with approximately 600 students attending. Many attendees agreed that contrasting from last year’s outdoor prom, 2023 was a drastic upgrade. 
“We had to drive so far away [last year], and it was just hot outside,” said Edler.
Following the night of an enchanting, successful prom, many attendees traveled to post-prom festivities– a second round of partying–or returned home accompanied by friends. 
“I went to my friend’s house [after prom],” said Felix Aguayo ‘24. “People want to keep having fun. They don’t want the night to end.”
For the graduating PHS seniors, prom is one of the last major events in their high-school experiences. After four years of high school molded by the COVID-19 pandemic and polished off with demanding classes, prom marks both an end and a new beginning.
“Prom is one of the last big celebrations for me and my friends,” said Emma MacMillan ’23. “It’s a great way to round off high school.”


New venue astounds at prom

Throughout history, professional athletes have made headlines for coming out as members of the LGBTQ+ community. For these LGBTQ+ athletes and others, participating in sports often comes with struggles cisgender athletes may not experience, as they may face homophobia at all levels of competition. While legislation in over 20 states, including the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination, has been a huge step towards prohibiting gender discrimination in school sports, there have been many instances where they fall short. No matter the athlete’s gender alignment, they should be able to be themselves without having to worry about any forms of discrimination or hate. 
   For Thomas Foley, former School Counselor at Princeton Middle School and current senior education manager of HiTOPS, an organization in Princeton providing support groups for LGBTQ+ youth and their families, his participation in high school soccer as an “out” gay athlete was not positively received. 
   “People used to call me slurs on the field,” said Foley. “People in my own locker room would tell me to leave the locker room because they weren’t comfortable with me being there, when all I wanted to do was change, put my gear on, and get ready to play.”
  Much of the polarizing debate regarding transgender inclusion in competitive sports is rooted in the potential physical advantages they possess as biological men. The controversy surrounding Lia Thomas, a trans woman competing in the collegiate women's swimming league, surfaced after her Division I National Championship win. Negative media coverage and public condemnation of her alleged physical advantages sparked conversation within the LGBTQ+ community.    
   “Trans people have been participating in sports for decades, and they’re really only hated doing so when they win,” Foley said. 
    In the biological realm, inherent physical advantages including greater height, higher bone density, greater lung capacity, higher testosterone levels, longer wingspan, and larger hand and feet sizes are sometimes present in trans women who have gone through male puberty. The differences between biological men and women are the reason for different net heights in volleyball, different hurdle heights in track, and different three-point arcs in basketball.
     But these physical variations between athletes often occur within sexes in a similar way they do across. Advocates for trans women in women’s sports point at Michael Phelps, the swimmer decorated with 28 Olympic medals, for holding biological advantages such as a longer torso and lower lactic acid production, or Boban Marjanovic, the seven-foot-five-inch tall male NBA player who towers over shorter defenders.  Sporting organizations such as the National Collegiate Athletic Association have established regulatory guidelines that consider the individual circumstances of trans athletes and scientifically address potential advantages, such as regulating hormone levels.
   In New Jersey, PHS currently follows all New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association rules and regulations, meaning transgender athletes are allowed to compete with the sports team that either aligns with their gender identity or biological sex. The PHS Board of Education approved Policy 5756 to help guide decisions regarding LGBTQ+ inclusion within school. 
   “[This policy] ensures a safe and supportive learning environment that is free from discrimination and harassment for transgender students, including students going through a gender transition,” said PHS Director of Athletics Brian Dzbenski. 
   While the New Jersey Interscholastic Athletic Association has rules that allow transgender athletes to compete with others of their aligned gender, there are still some instances where the athletes may feel uncomfortable.
   “Sometimes it's a little strange being in a team of all girls when you’re not a girl,” said transgender male athlete Jordan Shaevitz ’23, who started playing softball in fifth grade and is currently a member of the PHS girls softball team. “Sometimes it’s a little uncomfortable. I choose not to use the girls locker room, so I have my own routines that are separate from the team.”
   Although playing on a team that does not align with his gender identity can feel uncomfortable at times, Shaevitz remains grateful for his supportive team members. 		
   “It would be nice to have a boys softball team or a girls baseball team, or just make the teams co-ed,” said Shaevitz. “I was able to find my community in the girls softball team even though I’m not a girl, but I know not everybody is [able to].” 
   Many trans athletes, such as Chris Mosier, a transgender male triathlete, have taken strides in advocating for trans inclusion in sports. As an All-American duathlete, Mosier utilized his platform to prompt the International Olympic Committee to make changes to their rules in 2016, removing restrictions for trans men to compete with other male athletes. For many LGBTQ+ athletes, these progressive changes are a win. 
    “Softball is really good for my mental health … [and] sports are something that are for everyone. People [against trans inclusion in sports] are going off based on the assumption that [trans athletes] are naturally better, and they’re not looking at all the hard work that they did,” said Shaevitz. “[Sports should] have rec-leagues [that] have opportunities for people of all identities to play.”
    At the end of the day, LGBTQ+ individuals, like all people, should be able to live an uncompromising version of themselves, whether it be having the ability to enjoy the sport they love or walking the streets without the fear of homophobia and hate crimes. 
   “Inclusion for anyone who wants to participate in anything is important,” said Foley. “[Some] people have a lack of understanding on LGBTQ+ people. The thing I want most is for people to understand.”


 The importance of LGBTQ+ inclusion in the athletic world

In an era of growing mainstream consumption, the commercialization and commodification of social movements has become increasingly prevalent within corporate culture. Black History Month in February sees an influx of businesses marketing “Black Lives Matter” T-shirts and campaigns. Women’s History Month prompts advertisements of feminist merchandise and corporate applause for gender equity. During June, with major retailers parading a myriad of splashy rainbow commodities, Pride Month starts to resemble a month-long Hallmark holiday. Like clockwork, brand logos can be seen awash in rainbow hues, gestures of solidarity with the movement. However, as July comes around, Pride merch slowly moves to clearance racks, and corporate “allyship” seems to vanish just as quickly as it began. 
   The distinction between a marketing tactic and genuine allyship with a social movement is often negligible in the public eye. People often purchase these items to show support for different movements, but behind the scenes, the corporations supposedly celebrating LGBTQ+ individuals during Pride month sometimes also support their greatest oppressors. For example, corporations such as AT&T and Walmart lead annual Pride marches to cover for their millions of dollars spent funding legislators such as Bill Flores (R-TX), who believes gay marriage is a “breakdown of the family.” Though the hypocritical actions of these said corporations are reprehensible, they have a fair share of partners in crime. McDonald’s, the multibillion-dollar fast food company loved by millions of Americans, allocated $213,000 to lawmakers who voted against the Equality Act, which sought to prevent discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals in the workplace, criminal justice, and other public accommodations. Ironically, on June 1, McDonalds tweeted, “We’re proud of you. And you should be proud of you, too. This month, we’ll be celebrating and highlighting the people within our McDonald’s family that embody the spirit of LGBTQ+ Pride.” 
   If fast food restaurants that spout support for the LGBTQ+ community on social media are not genuine in their efforts, what does that mean for the glittery pride shirts? At this point, we must look past the sequins. According to the New York Times, fast fashion giants like Primark and H&M rely on cheap overseas laborers in locales such as Bangladesh and Myanmar, countries where homosexuality is criminalized, to source their Pride garments. And instead of attempting to shift to a more ethical and equitable form of labor, according to Discourse Magazine in 2022, Nike capitalizes off the backs of forced labor programs “linked to crimes against humanity” in countries such as Myanmar to manufacture Black Lives Matter goods as well as the rest of their products. Corporate “activism” oftentimes does not extend beyond the economic sphere, with profit and gaining social capital being at the forefront, leaving a null impact on social change. Yet it is the commodities from these corporations that are marketed to consumers as bona fide symbols of allyship.
   Critics often oppose these claims by citing that the commercialism of a social movement creates greater recognition of a marginalized group. But to what extent does commercialization promote progress, especially considering where that money often goes? While altruism is unrealistic and ultimately not feasible in a capitalistic society, shouldn’t corporations have a responsibility to act on their supposed support for the movements? Sure, mainstream recognition was once a dream for the segregated and discriminated African Americans and the queer individuals who faced public brutality. However, corporate recognition often overshadows the fact that these systemic issues still persist in today's society. Gay conversion therapy is still legal in 37 states, and similar anti-LGBTQ+ organizations are often endorsed by corporations such as Chick-fil-A through their charitable arm, the Chick-fil-A Foundation. Homosexuality is illegal in 74 countries, and a record-high of 375 transgender individuals were murdered in hate crimes in 2021 worldwide. When capitalist values are placed at the forefront of social movements, the advocacy for them essentially becomes gauged by materialistic possessions in lieu of genuine advocacy for systemic change. Activist sentiment towards a movement becomes tied to a tangible product, and the purchase of these commodities often replaces actual direct action. Essentially, social movements risk losing their activist intentions and becoming seasonal fads. 
   PHS students who are part of these marginalized communities may feel insulted to observe their daily struggles objectified and monetized as marketable products. Not only is the commodification of these struggles invalidating, but seeing this complex dimension of their identity glamorized and glossed over in mainstream media can also be alienating. By acknowledging and condemning the co-opting and over-commercialization of social movements by corporations, we can come closer to recognizing and addressing the true systemic injustices faced by these communities. But are we holding ourselves to the same standards? As consumers, we play a crucial part in shaping corporate culture. Rather than only blindly waving a Pride flag in June or purchasing a Black History Month T-shirt in February, consider donating to a charity that strives towards the betterment of these marginalized communities year-round and actively listen to these voices throughout the year. This will allow the journey towards equality to continue to matter long after rainbow socks, Black Lives Matter keychains, and trendy retail items disappear from social media pages and store windows.

Shopping for a cause: The commercialization and commodification of social movements

On March 10, the PHS Student Council held its first annual “Dodge for a Cause” dodgeball tournament. The event, which teams of students from all grades signed up for, had the objective of raising funds for Arm in Arm, a food pantry based in Trenton. 
   As it was the first time it had ever been put on, this event was in the works for months before it took place. Eventually, though, 12 teams, a DJ, and dozens of spectators filled the gym with music, cheers, and squeaks of sliding sneakers.
   “The idea was brought up by the student body council as a whole, and then we brought it to the rest of StuCo,” said PHS Student Body President Ashley Chen ’23, explaining the origin of the tournament.
   Initially, StuCo was considering options like a dance or a game night, but it decided on dodgeball with the goal of beginning a new tradition that would more directly involve students. Members of the Student Council were enthusiastic that students could enjoy themselves while also being able to help the community.
   “We settled on dodgeball because we liked the idea and … how we could support a cause without needing people to pay [the $2] for entry. Bringing cans of food for admission was a nice and different way to do [that],” said Alicia Xu, vice president of the sophomore class. 
   Along with the $20 charged for a team entry, StuCo members ran a table for concessions that participants could buy for a couple of dollars each. 
   “My friends [and I], we all really love playing dodgeball, because it’s really fun. There’s the Corner House dodgeball event and Maddie [Castillo] and I are both actually in Corner House, and we had a lot of fun there,” said Leah Rose-Seiden ’24, a member of Team Maid, explaining her motivation to sign up. 
   Even though her team didn’t end up winning the tournament, Rose-Seiden still recommends participating in StuCo events, especially fundraising opportunities. 
   “It’s a lot of fun to come to these school events, because there aren't a lot of [them], and obviously it goes to a good cause,” Rose-Seiden said. 
   The Student Council also saw “Dodge for a Cause” as a victory, and plans to repeat the tournament in following years. 
  “It is a fun tradition to continue on every year and because of its success, we can definitely expand on the idea next year,” said Xu.

Flash Features: Dodge for a Cause

For the first time since 2016, the PHS Science Bowl team took home bronze, placing third in the New Jersey Regional Science Bowl. The team whizzed through rounds, pushing buzzers to answer fast-paced questions in biology, chemistry, earth and space science, energy, mathematics, and physics. 
   The team progressed quickly through initial rounds of elimination, working collaboratively in assembly lines during tough questions. Tensions were high in the final elimination rounds of the tournament. The scores between High Tech High School and PHS sat close, with the other team leading by just a margin of two points.
    “The [round] we got eliminated in [had] a two-point difference. The score was 76 for us and 78 for the other team, and it was on a bonus. If we got this bonus we would advance to the second place, and if we didn’t, we would be in third. It was a very intense bonus,” said team member Benjamin You ’23. 
   With a team consisting exclusively of seniors, most individuals had expertise in a couple specific categories instead of focusing on all five.
“We all have different strengths, like different subjects in science, so we cover our bases pretty well,” said Science Bowl team captain George Kopf ’23. “I am the bio guy, so all of the biological sciences are my jurisdiction.”
   Kopf plays an important role as team captain, leading the team during club meetings and tournaments. During the club meetings leading up to the big day, he created practice rounds of tournaments complete with buzzers. While these club meetings were essential in exercising team members' ability to apply their knowledge, they were also paramount for the team to strengthen their collaboration skills.
   “The [team's] performance is based more on how well we work with each other [than] how well we know each other, things like that,” You said. 
   Though the team will not qualify to compete at the National Science Bowl Tournament in April, their achievements have motivated them and demonstrated how their preparation behind the scenes paid off.
   “We expected to get out pretty much immediately, so this was better than expected. [These were] encouraging results,” said team member Samuel Whitley ’23. 
   Most of the team will graduate this year, leaving behind a lasting legacy on the PHS Science Bowl team. While gaining success at regionals through hard work, the senior veterans still want to preserve the important aspect of having fun. 
   “Join Science Bowl; it’s really fun. Don’t take it too seriously,” said Kopf. “Just do what you’re interested in, and [those topics] will usually come up.”

The Tower

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The Tower