Have you done the Wordle today? Don’t worry, I won’t spoil it. Instead, I’ll give you a tip: Kick off with a word that has a lot of vowels and common consonants in it. Words such as “roate,” “arson,” and “adieu” are commonly used among players. For the past few months, this newfound word game has been the talk of PHS. From sharing colored grids on Twitter to creating memes —  such as John Cusack holding a Wordle grid in replacement of a boombox — Wordle has become a much bigger phenomenon than originally envisioned. 

The goal of the game is quite simple: to guess the five-letter word of the day in, at most, six tries. After entering a guess, each tile will turn into one of three different colors: gray, yellow, or green. Gray means that a letter is not in the word of the day, yellow means the letter is in the word but is in the wrong place, while green means it is both the correct letter and in the right spot. Unlike most current games, Wordle is only available on the web browser, but it can be easier to access if the website is added as a shortcut on your phone’s home screen.

“Wordle is fun… it is a short brain game that anyone can play,” said Jacqueline Zang ‘25, a daily player.  

Josh Wardle, the creator of Wordle, designed this game as a gift to his partner, Palaak Shah, who is a fan of The New York Times’ Spelling Bee and crossword puzzle. Delighted by this act of love, Shah contributed to making this game possible and helped pick out the words she knew (about 2,500) out of roughly 12,000 five-letter words in the English language. However, ever since The Times has bought the game for a “low seven figures,” a great deal of people are disappointed that the words have seemingly gotten more difficult, accusing the newspaper of altering the words, including ones with repeated letters, like the word “rupee.” In response, The Times released a statement explaining that the words have stayed the same and that they are also making improvements along the way to make the game more enjoyable.  

“Some people hate it, some people love it. I do feel like some of the words are harder, but I do enjoy that there is a better variety of words, which is [both] good and bad, because while the better variety makes it more challenging and fun, some people had never heard of the words before. For example, the word “caulk.” That day, everyone was like ‘Is that even a word?’, so it can be a bit harder,” said Gabby Kaputa ’25, who’s played the viral game since January.

The New York Times has recently gained popularity due to its online games, including Wordle. Part of its popularity is due to simplicity, a component that is incredibly appealing to players. However, the public hasn’t always embraced word games the way they do now. That all changed after World War II started and blackouts were widespread throughout New York because the puzzles helped to create a sense of serenity amid the events. 

Many are feeling a similar collective stress during the pandemic as well, and playing Wordle has helped boost people’s moods. Guessing words and sharing ideas with one another has given people a reassuring routine during these uncertain times. 

“It’s a nice puzzle to wake up to each morning, and a fun challenge to see how many guesses it’ll take compared to your friends,” said Henry Langmack ’25, who’s been playing since the new year.  

Wordle is a game many people can play, but it does include its own set of challenges. Since everyone is striving to find the same word, it feels as if players are figuring it out together, despite the independent format of the game. Not only do people appreciate its amusement and shareability, but it has also proven to be great for improving memory and brain health. These advantages have contributed to the increasing amount of attention Wordle has gained in the past few months, to the extent that spin-offs such as Worldle, Octordle, and Taylordle have been created. 

“It is a game that everyone can play, and it’s not easy [since] you want to guess the word in the least tries possible. Also because there is only one word [to guess per] day, it prevents people from becoming bored quickly,” Zang said. 

This puzzle was released in early October, and its popularity has skyrocketed since then. And the reason for this is evident: amidst all the chaos in the world, Wordle provides us with a sense of stability. 

Wordle: the viral word game

This past month, members of the PHS Jazz Ensemble and Studio Band performed at preliminary festivals to qualify for the 2022 state finals, organized by the New Jersey Jazz Association for Jazz Education. Students who participated were given the opportunity to showcase their talent, represent their school, and even win prestigious awards, tributes, or scholarships. 

Prelims for the Jazz Ensemble took place on March 9 at Southern Regional High School, while Studio Band prelims took place on March 10 at Steinert High School. 

“We played the three songs that we’ve been practicing weekly,” said Adele Slaymaker ‘25, who plays the clarinet in the Jazz Ensemble.

The Jazz Ensemble won gold for sight-reading (performing a piece without previous preparation), which counted for 15 percent of the total score for the preliminary round. 

“Studio Band got gold and our rhythm section won outstanding section! We [also] won best sight reading,” said Sara Carson ‘23, a guitarist in Studio Band.

All participating musicians maintained a focused mindset as well as an optimistic attitude at prelims. Both Jazz Ensemble and Studio Band did exceptionally well, placing 9th and 3rd place, respectively. The two bands will be making it to state finals on April 30th. This year, sight-reading and improvisation were crucial components on the adjudication sheet. 

“There is a lot of pressure because PHS is hosting [Division II] finals, as well as the reputation that the Princeton bands have,” said Matthew Chen ’25, a trumpet player for Jazz Ensemble. 



In 2019, PHS Jazz Ensemble and Studio Band placed third and second in Division II finals, and Studio Band won the Richard A. Graham Sight Reading Award. Furthermore, Studio Band trombonists won a section award. This year, band members are excited to perform competitively again and exhibit PHS pride. 

Although pandemic is a challenge, Finals in future look promising as mask mandates begin to lift. 

“COVID-19 has made performances more perfunctory than exciting, but prelims, where we’re competing, will help bring back some energy,” said Nina Esteghamat ’23, who plays the flute.

Many freshmen were excited to attend prelims for the first time. The chance to advance to State Finals is a big achievement in their musical journey. 

“I haven’t done a competition before, since I’m a freshman and the last performance we did outside of this year was when I was in seventh grade,” said Slaymaker.
@img=https://yusjougmsdnhcsksadaw.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/images/C564AED7-1B42-4E58-9FA4-7F09598EAD94-1091-0000011237281783.JPG

Rehearsal schedules for both Studio Band and Jazz Ensemble were planned to efficiently prepare for prelims. Members will continue to attend three-hour rehearsals every Wednesday night to address larger group issues, while also working in instrument-based sections to review smaller details in the music.

“Going to finals at Princeton High School, which is our home turf, will be really nice. Having both bands play together at the same place where we can watch each other, I feel like is going to be really cool!” said Sophia Kim ’22, an oboe player in Studio Band.

Jazz and Studio Band members work hard to prepare for the preliminaries to State Finals

Click. With the press of one button, one is able to capture the moment, your loved one, a beautiful flower, or simply anything that catches your eye. For Yayla Tur ’22, photography isn’t just a form of media, but “ a peace-making art in its own form of therapy.” With more and more media representation, photography is a great way to capture everyday moments that we often overlook. Perhaps it is artists like Tur and other photographers that allow us to wonder, stay informed, and get inspired. Whether they are using their film camera or their phone, Tur  is able to call attention to the beauty surrounding us.



In a society where almost everything is digital, as a photographer, how do you feel about social media where you are faced with so much fast-paced social media? 

I think in a lot of ways, it can be overwhelming because it’s so overstimulating when there’s so much there. But at the same time, I feel like I’ve connected with different artists I would have never met, and found so many small artists and big artists that have become such inspiration for me. So although it can be a lot, it can also be very inspiring and it’s so exciting to see all those works from different perspectives. 
When do you usually take photos? 

I generally just have a camera with me all the time. I enjoy taking photos all the time constantly rather than having set photoshoots. I like to take photos on the go more, showcasing my day-to-day life. And also when I’m with my friends I try to capture the moments as well. 


Do you prefer taking photos on your phone or your camera?

It depends on what I’m going for. When taking film photos, there’s a different quality to it, especially when I’m going for flash photography, which I’ll always use a film camera for. If it’s on my phone, it’s generally more in quick situations. But also, there are different pros and cons to each. And it all depends on what the subject is going to be, and the quality I want.


Is there a specific platform you use to showcase your work? 

I’d say the most is VSCO, just because that’s where I’ve connected with a lot of artists that do digital photography, and collage. It’s a good way to share your art in a less judgmental space in comparison to Instagram, where you can get compiled likes.


What or who do you like to take photos of most? 

I love taking photos of my friends because I love capturing moments that I really enjoy with them. My friends have become very used to it, they know not to pose and just keep doing what they’re doing. I take a lot of photos of my best friend Helenka, or people I spend a lot of time with. So yeah, generally I think I enjoy taking photos of people the most. I also have a mini-series of just lights in houses from the outside at night. There’s something about the way it shines through the window that I think is really cool. 


What do you do after taking the photos?

So usually, I edit them a bit. It sort of depends on what I’m going for. A lot of times, there will be a photo I really like but it seems like there’s something missing. That’s when I start to collage photos, digitally usually, although I also do traditional collage with paper. Or I’ll combine a photo of something I’ve drawn, digitally layering it. But it all depends on the photo.


I know with oil paint or music, it is very easy to go back and forth and fix your work until you are satisfied with your final product. Does it bother you that with photography there is really no “re-capturing” of the moment?  

It depends. Especially with film, you have to be really frugal with it because you only have so many photos on a roll and developing film is expensive. Sometimes I’ll have photos where one thing is just a little too blurry, a little too this or that. There’s some little mess-up, which can be frustrating but in one way that is part of the beauty of photography. You just keep going, and it’s on the go, and you can’t tweak it in the same way you can painting. Although of course with digital collage, you can edit them to a certain degree, there is something nice about just it being how it is, and you can’t fix it. 


As an artist, how are you able to enjoy your work? Do you think there are advantages with photography over typical traditional art?

One thing with photography, especially with film, it’s nostalgic. Of course, you can look back on your memories, especially with film because it can take a while to finish a whole roll. You can start it in the summer and not finish it or develop it until the winter. And half of them, you won’t be able to look back until you get them developed so you’ll forget you took those photos, you’ll see them and you’re transported back to that time. So it’s definitely really nice to capture them, look back, and be reminded of real-life moments. In a way, it is sort of a peace-making art in its own form of therapy.


When taking a photo, what is your motto or motive?

To a certain degree, trying to capture but also trying to stay in the moment. Not becoming too concerned with taking a photo or taking a perfect photo, especially when I’m with my friends I don’t want to be so focused on taking photos of them. I just want to take it off the side, not people posing for it, me not putting too much of my time, and still getting to enjoy the moment itself.

Student Artist of the Month: Yayla Tur ‘22 captures the moment through photography

Women’s History Month crossword

What do you get when a writer on a sketch comedy show at the National Broadcasting Company writes a comedy show for NBC about the writer of a sketch comedy show on NBC? The answer is “30 Rock.”

Tina Fey’s “30 Rock,” which aired from 2006 to 2013, takes the viewer into an exaggerated, chaotic, and almost cartoonish version of Fey’s world. The show follows the overworked and under-appreciated Liz Lemon, portrayed by Fey herself as a sort of self-caricature. Lemon struggles to write and produce the NBC sketch comedy “The Girlie Show,” whose reviews have been less than enthusiastic (“Entertainment Weekly called it a comedy!” Lemon brags, so starved for praise that she mistakes bland statements for acclamation). Lemon is tasked with juggling the show’s self-absorbed star, Jenna Maroney (played by Jane Krakowski), the unpredictable and childish Tracy Jordan (played by comedy actor Tracy Morgan, happy to parody himself), and the staunchly business-minded executive producer Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin). It is Donaghy and Lemon who are the heart and soul of the show, forming an initially uneasy alliance against their disorderly workplace.

Perhaps “disorderly” undersells “30 Rock,” where chaos is seemingly a law of the universe. Plotlines are less sequences of events that lead to a satisfying conclusion, and more loose outlines of ideas that spill over into a simultaneously unhinged and controlled absurdity. “30 Rock” never lets anything get in the way of its humor, often resulting in satisfyingly absurd plotlines and moments, of which there are plenty. For example, Tracy tries to kill Jimmy Fallon with an ax to rid himself of a curse. Greenzo (David Schwimmer), a corporate mascot hired by NBC to insincerely promote environmentalism, becomes drunk on power and turns on his corporate overlords. Former Vice President Al Gore ends an episode by tearing open his shirt like a superhero and announcing that he must save a whale, on not one, but two occasions. “30 Rock” knows that it is a show and not reality, and by extension, things don’t have to make sense within its world. It takes full advantage of not having to play by the rules of traditional narrative television, employing cutaway jokes and sight gags straight out of cartoons. Oftentimes the show directly breaks the fourth wall, such as a season five episode where the audience is kept waiting for a post-credits scene – only for the scene in question to be abruptly cut off by the episode’s ending. What else demonstrates this blurring of reality and fiction better than an episode where Liz Lemon, a self-professed “Star Wars” geek, becomes mentored by her favorite comedy writer, played by “Star Wars” actress Carrie Fisher? 

But “30 Rock” is more than a show aware of its medium. Its jokes are never jokes for their own sakes, despite their occasional juvenility. Rather, they almost always have a deeper meaning… or do they? That’s another interesting thing about this show. Any moment could be a silly gag, or an insight into society disguised as a mere parody. Is Tracy’s trying to kill Jimmy Fallon simply slapstick humor, or is it an exaggeration of our own critical discourse of celebrities? Is Greenzo just a silly role, or is his character a manifestation of the way corporations pretend to care about a cause for money while exacerbating the problem? Are Al Gore’s cameos fun guest appearances or critiques of the way we view certain public figures as heroes who can magically solve problems? No matter how you interpret these scenes, every time you laugh, you know there’s more behind that laugh than Tracy’s bulky bodyguard telling Donaghy that he wishes he lived in a world where people assumed he was a doctor. “30 Rock” is clever satire disguised as farce. 

Although “30 Rock” is a show focused on humor and not plot, it has heart and a sense of respect for the struggles of its characters, no matter how ridiculous. This sentimental side of “30 Rock” partakes in the show’s unexpected absurdity by manifesting itself in the unlikely friendship between Jack Donaghy and Liz Lemon. Donaghy is a Reagan-loving Republican who claims that he has perfected “capitalism as an art form”, while Lemon is an artistically-minded liberal who idolizes Eleanor Roosevelt and Oprah Winfrey. The two learn from each other, correct each other’s flaws and attitudes, and confide in each other, temporarily putting the show’s zaniness on hold. In a sense, the story of the show is the story of Jack and Liz working together to find a balanced view of their insane world without renouncing their differences. With Jack and Liz, “30 Rock” gives us the last piece of the puzzle. Not only does it have humor and brains, but heart and lovable characters. 

“30 Rock” is an addictive show because it always keeps us guessing. Is it farce? Is it satire? But at the end of the day, it also has a soothing effect, inviting us to sit back and contemplate a world slightly stranger than us, just as Jack and Liz do each episode.

Chaos, Comedy, and Commentary: “30 Rock”

In spite of the nearly insurmountable barriers that have stood in the way of female authors throughout history, ranging from denial of rights in the workplace to rejection from editors, women have emerged as pioneers in a wide variety of literary genres. While it has become increasingly common to see women’s names on book covers, the journey they’ve taken to get there can be traced back hundreds of years.

In the 1800s, women became more influential in literature for writing about topics that were mostly viewed as taboo, such as marriage, sexuality, social structure, suicide, adultery, and infidelity. The presence of these themes demonstrated the willingness of women to challenge what was considered “normal” to write about.  One text that contributed greatly to this new movement was Kate Chopin’s “The Awakening,” which drew from her past experience of being a young bride and businesswoman in Louisiana. The book was very controversial at the time for its frankness about sexuality. It was banned for over fifty years, returning to shelves as the portrayal of independent women became more widely accepted. It also heavily influenced women’s ambitions at the time as they realized the breadth of opportunities available to them.  It also allowed them to be more open about the many issues they faced in marriage. Jane Austen also made some substantial contributions to literature during the 19th century; notable novels of Austen’s include “Sense and Sensibility,” which tells of three girls coming of age, “Pride and Prejudice,” which uses its protagonist to teach the importance of true human decency over the superficial, and “Emma,” which depicts the nuances of the relationships intertwining several families. At the time these works were published, they did not gain the popularity they have today. But some years after her death, her works were republished in Richard Bentley’s Standard Novels series, making her a prominent author of the 19th century. Her works remain relevant and are still read today. In fact, her novel Emma later ended up inspiring the blockbuster 1995 teen comedy “Clueless.” Emily Brontë of the Brontë sisters also made a great contribution to 19th century literature with her novel “Wuthering Heights.” The novel told of love that transcended class limits and societal values, with supernatural elements that made the plot easier to stomach. The many horrors in the story bewildered and impressed readers at the time, and Emily’s expression of the disorder in the world was met with a more positive response later on.

The 20th century contains some of the most impressive and world-changing developments, from the Roaring Twenties to the invention of the internet, resulting in the creation of a wide range of literature. L.M. Montgomery’s “Anne of Green Gables,” set on Prince Edward Island, used details from Montgomery’s own life to spin a tale of the childhood of a young orphaned girl. Montgomery was inspired to write after her mother died and her father deserted her when she was a child. Anne’s innocent nature combined with the beautiful and quaint setting made “Anne of Green Gables” a must-read for children everywhere. Montgomery eventually became the first Canadian woman in history to be inducted into the British Royal Society of the Arts. While Montgomery reflected the somewhat whimsical attitude of literature early in the century, women such as Agatha Christie popularized murder mysteries. While murder mysteries were first brought about by Edgar Allen Poe, certain books of Christie’s caused the genre to skyrocket in popularity in the 1930s. “Murder on the Orient Express,” for instance, has gone down in history as the quintessential murder mystery, filled with perfectly placed misdirections, shady characters, and just enough detail to make looking away impossible for a reader. Christie used the book to define some of the most well-known tropes of mystery novels, especially the use of an exciting final accusation. The charming and witty Hercule Poirot was written and developed by Christie in such a way that the names will forever go together. Christie has gone down in history as the best-selling novelist, outsold only by Shakespeare and the Bible. Towards the end of the century, Toni Morrison, a pioneer of the Black Arts Movement, helped reinvent the major themes of literature such as purity, love, and peace with God. These themes in her novels were uniquely written so that they reflected the Black community as well as other underrepresented groups. Her work is now incorporated into school curriculums, making her a household name among students. With books like “Song of Solomon,” she wrote about the Black experience in America in a way that allowed everyone to empathize with it. Morrison eventually became the first Black woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature, and she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. 

Present-day literature features several female authors, and more continue to emerge on the scene. Donna Tartt’s “The Goldfinch” is special in how it preserves the very poetic writing style of the 20th and 19th centuries while also adding more contemporary themes. The novel draws from the joy that art and paintings can bring to their audience, a theme that could possiblyperhaps come off as dated in today’s digital age. However, Tartt portrays young Theodore Decker as using art as a refuge, a coping mechanism that resonates with people from all generations. A total contrast to Tartt’s methods, authors like Celeste Ng have taken their place in the young adult genre. Known for younger characters and less abstract storylines, young adult novels have become increasingly popular for high schoolers. When the genre first emerged, distinct tropes were created that quickly grew boring and overused. However, Ng’s “Little Fires Everywhere” toes the line between YA and adult fiction and combines an exciting murder mystery with subtle commentary on American classism and racism. While social issues being presented as literary themes has never been a new concept, Ng has brought certain “uncomfortable” topics to younger audiences, forcing them to confront their own biases. Another author with similar aims is Jacqueline Woodson, writer of “Brown Girl Dreaming.” With this book, Woodson goes even younger than the YA genre and writes for elementary and middle school students. Woodson’s work focuses on the experience of being a young Black girl in America and the internal conflicts she faced as a result. The Black Lives Matter movement of the 2010s has placed great emphasis on teaching children acceptance and anti-racism from a young age. Woodson has allowed young Black girls to see themselves in the books they read. Furthermore, their non-Black peers are able to learn and empathize with the Black American experience. 

Women in literature have made a significant impact on the world that can be traced through hundreds of years. In 2022, nobody raises any eyebrows when they’re handed a book with a woman’s name on it.

Women’s literary journey through time

We all rely on the media to find role models and inspiration for our day to day lives. However, many girls, including many at PHS, grow up without seeing any women that look like themselves in the media. Thankfully, many women, such as poet Amanda Gorman, singer Alicia Keys, and actress America Ferrera are working to change societal norms and misogyny in the industry to ensure following generations of women don’t have to face underrepresentation in the media. From when we were younger girls to now, these women have impacted our views on feminism and representation. 

Amanda Gorman is currently the youngest inaugural poet in U.S. history. However, her success did not come without challenges. For example, as a child, she had a speech impediment, and she currently has an auditory processing disorder. When I first learned this, I rewatched her recitation of “The Hill We Climb,” where I could not hear any sign of a speech impediment. As a woman of color myself, it was comforting to see someone that had her own challenges during her childhood was able to overcome them and gain such notability. At 16, she experienced her first success when she became the Youth Poet Laureate of Los Angeles. Since the 2021 inauguration of Joe Biden, she’s experienced great success, with two of her books achieving best-seller status. I remember when I first watched her during the inauguration; at first, I couldn’t fathom how much work she must have had to put in as a woman of color to recite a poem in a place where people like her had always been unwelcome. However, I soon simply enjoyed the poem and its message, all the while amazed that a person of color was being recognized for her creativity and talent. In 2014, Gorman reported that she “aspires to be a human rights advocate” and pursued this by founding a nonprofit in 2016 called “One Pen One Page,” which strives to eliminate inequality through education. Gorman is an inspiration to many, including myself. Her success as a young woman makes me realize that my age doesn’t prevent me from reaching milestones. She serves as a role model for girls of all races, especially those at PHS, to look up to. She uses her voice to talk about her experiences with racism and sexism, intertwining her two identities to influence her work. 



Alicia Keys: Singer

Alicia Keys is a singer most known for her R&B songs including “Empire State of Mind,” “Girl on Fire,” and “If I Ain’t Got You.” Keys is a very outspoken activist and she has always connected this to her lyrics. Though she has multiple songs that beautifully express her personal feelings towards hardships in equality, I think the one that I resonate the most with is a classic, “Girl on Fire.” Though it may be considered “basic” to think of Alicia Keys and instantly connect that thought with “Girl on Fire,” I personally believe it is her most empowering song because of its lack of personality. Unlike some of her other popular songs, “Girl on Fire” uses no personal pronouns, making it applicable to any and every girl. The lyrics label her as “just a girl,” but throughout the song this “Girl on Fire” escapes a messed up world and creates new beginnings. There is no specific criteria to be the “Girl on Fire,” presenting a timeless message to every woman that they all have what it takes to influence the world and to find great success. Though it may be considered one of Keys’ most overplayed songs, I believe that “Girl on Fire” is one of her most influential, because it made every girl believe in themselves and the power they hold. 

I also personally resonate with “Empire State of Mind.” The song launches you into NYC, “the City that Never Sleeps”, and makes you feel like you could accomplish anything if you put your mind to it. Sometimes I like sitting alone in my room and trying (and failing) to hit the high notes. Overall, the song just makes me feel empowered and I never get tired of it. 



America Ferrera: Actress

America Ferrera is a Honduran-American actress, most known for her breakthrough roles in Ugly Betty, Superstore, and The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Since the beginning of her career at 15, she has heard people tell her to be “more latina” in order to fit stereotypical roles of latina side-characters. Because of the prejudice she has faced in the industry, America has made it a point to be a role model for other girls to be themselves, and not the mold that others want them to fit. As a latina myself, watching Ferrera’s 2019 Ted Talk on “My Identity is a Superpower, Not an Obstacle” was so inspiring because she has been fighting to end clichés of ethnic people playing stereotypical side-characters for nearly 20 years and consistently continues to make that her first priority in terms of work. Even in 2000s teen dramas, which are notoriously known for lacking in diversity, she has starred as main characters who reflect herself, and not what the world expects of her. When Ferrera said that her being the first and only Latina to win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series “is not a point of pride, that is a point of deep frustration,” I think the perspective I have always had on award shows changed a lot because I began to take more notice of how milestones in the entertainment industry are really a sign of getting rid of a stigma that shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Ferrera won that Emmy 15 years ago, and no Latina has won it since. Now however, many companies have been much more aware and have taken a lot more action on the need for more diversity, Ferrera’s “win” is a clear example that there is still a long way to go, and it is people like her who are paving the path to success.

The emergence of female artists in the media

In late January, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed state bill S-4021/A-6100, which mandates that all New Jersey schools teach Asian-American history as a part of the core curriculum, making New Jersey the second state to mandate the teaching of Asian American history. The passing of this bill represented the culmination of efforts to get the bill passed before the NJ legislature ended session for the year. The goal of the bill was to require school districts to provide instruction on the history and contributions of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in social studies curriculums.

   The bill was conceived as a response to the rising anti-Asian hate crimes throughout the continuing pandemic. Its proponents noticed how little Asian American history was being taught in schools and realized that legislative support was critical to making a meaningful change. 

   “It’s similar to social studies legislation that was passed in the last year that first included LGBTQ representation and disability representation. This feels like another step [towards] making sure that Asian American Pacific Islander history is involved in our K–12 curriculum,” said Patricia Manhart, a Social Studies teacher at PHS. 

   The passing of this bill will have far-reaching consequences for New Jersey students. First and foremost, this bill hopes to help Asian-American students feel more represented in the classroom. Soorya Baliga ‘22, a student at PHS who spoke at multiple events organized by Make Us Visible NJ, a main proponent of the bill, believes that the bill will both help in students’ learning as well as in changing their perceptions about society around them. 

   “I'm half-Indian, and looking back, even to elementary school, I remember most clearly the picture books that featured Indian protagonists. It's just so important to include that representation,” said Baliga.

   Now that the bill is passed though, the next challenge will be ensuring its effective implementation. Ngan Le ‘23, an organizational supporter for the bill who helped it gain the required signatures, believes that the bill will lose its impact if Asian-American history is not actually implemented into everyday teaching. 

   “This is definitely a first step, … but the impact really comes with how we deal with the implementation,” said Le. “Now, if we set high standards for it, … if we make it clear what our demands are, we will make something out of it. If we don't, then it'll just be another bill that is just there that no one looks at.”

   While this bill does signify progress for Asian Americans, more can still be done to improve inclusivity in curriculums all across the nation. However, instead of the state legislature, Manhart believes that improving the classroom experience for all students is the College Board’s responsibility now. 

   “AP history [curriculums] have an impact that goes beyond just the state of New Jersey … I'm sure [the curriculum] is relatively representative or diverse, but if this kind of initiative was put into the College Board, that would have a really wide impact on students and go beyond just the state of New Jersey,” Manhart said. 

   In the end though, this bill will change what history curriculums look like in the coming years, impacting students at schools all across the state. Baliga believes that this bill will be beneficial regardless of how much more still needs to be done.

   “It really indicates that those in political positions of power are thinking of and considering [Asian American and Pacific Islander] students more than ever before, [which] I think is really important,” Baliga said.

NJ mandates the teaching of Asian-American history

Sustainability is a pressing issue that needs involvement in order to reach progress. As COVID-19 begins to fade, many past issues like sustainability return to focus. In response, the World Cafe Event, which will be hosted by PHS on March 16, is one of many solutions to bring further awareness to students and the overall community.        

 Unlike February, where there was only an online presentation, the event will be an in-person discussion where participants will be able to share their ideas and find common themes behind everyone’s ideas. 

   “The format of the program is such that we will split into small groups, and have each group have a discussion … By the end, we can find common themes behind all the different pieces, all the different pieces of input,” said Jenny Ludmer, the Program Manager for Sustainable Princeton.

   Following up on the event, Ludmer hopes that the series of activities can bring many great ideas together. After all, the decisions and actions taken now are for the future of many students. 

   “If we could provide a forum where all of these ideas can come together, that could help the district prioritize moving forward plans to address some of these concerns that are out there,” Ludmer said.

   Ludmer believes that it is important to allow students to contribute to this act. By exposing many students to make an effort to change how energy can be sustained at an early age, they are more likely to continue this effort later on in their lives.

   “I think it's vital to educate students. You're inheriting the world as it is now. And you, many of you will hopefully contribute to the solutions to climate change. If I wanted to sum it up, you're the future. And unfortunately, the future is going to include climate change, so we're going to need as many hands on deck as possible to help us with this issue.” Ludmer said.

   There are also many students in PHS who feel the same way. As their futures are determined by the actions that are taken today, many want to step up to make a difference.

   “It is important because it is good to have awareness on what you do. It is still good to have general knowledge and information on issues that may surround us,” said Thomas Birge ‘24, a student in PHS. 

   Regardless of the current situation. Ludmer is very optimistic about this new opportunity to make a difference at PHS and in Princeton as a whole. Although the assembly being held this month may not be as significant, Ludmer believes that this is the right direction for PHS to change old habits into feasible and viable methods, explaining several advancements that Princeton is working on in order to reach a green future. 

   “I’m helping them with energy initiatives, transportation initiatives, natural resources management, and then resiliency, [which] is thinking about green infrastructure,” Ludmer said. 

   With so many broad topics, Ludmer has specific goals in mind, devising multiple methods and strategies to improve our environment ranging from clean, reusable energy, to transportation. 

   “We're looking at 2024 for solar to happen for all the schools … Those projects will likely start within the next six to nine months. It's a long process, it'll be a multi-year process. But it will, in the long run, be a very good thing for the high school,” Ludmer said.

   Despite difficulties lying ahead, change is in progress and students appreciate the effort from administrators and volunteers. 

   “I'm excited that the district has initiative now and wants to see it happen at the schools. In general, this is an important topic to address and inaction cannot be prolonged,” said Zach Guan 24’.



“World Cafe” event promotes discussion about sustainability at PHS:

Ever since high school, Janine Giammanco knew that she had an interest in chemistry. Now, as a chemistry teacher at Princeton High School, she uses her passion for education in order to try and push her students to be the best they can be.  

   “I had an excellent chemistry teacher in high school who really sparked my interest in science, to the point where I started as a chemistry major in college,” said Giammanco.

   Her passion for chemistry didn’t translate in a lab setting, so she decided to pursue a job with a more social aspect. 

   “When I started working in a lab, in a college, I just decided it wasn't for me,” said Giammanco. “I wanted to be with people, and I really enjoyed working with kids.”

   Giammanco strives to make her class as engaging as possible. Yuyi Liu ‘24, a student in her Chemistry I Accelerated class, appreciates her teaching style.

   “There are many interactive discussions and demonstrations during class, which engages students in the content. Giammanco extends class contents in applying it to the real world. During our studies of the chemical elements, we conducted further research on where the materials in cell phones come from…Then we put our research into a project, where we explained why constantly upgrading cell phones is harmful to the environment, connecting our research and studies of chemical elements,” Liu said. 

   ​​While many teachers found the pandemic to have a negative impact on their teaching, Giammanco remained optimistic. For example, posting instructional videos online allowed her to focus on projects and group work instead of instruction at the board. The new free time was then focused towards group work, projects, labs, all of which had been removed in the last couple of years, leading to a more student-centered learning environment. With her passion to push her students, Giammanco wants to truly understand what each student needs in order to have an optimal learning environment. 

   “I have a well run classroom and set high expectations so that students can push themselves, but at the same time, making sure that you're treating them fairly in terms of what is going on in their life. The hardest part is striking that balance between setting high standards and meeting individual needs.”

   “She really understands things in general…if you're really stressed about something, she's really patient with you,” said Lauren Girouard ‘24, a student in Giammanco’s Chemistry I class. 

   While the job can be hard, it comes with benefits that make it all worthwhile in the end. Through her relationships and connections with her students, Giammanco was able to build one of her most memorable experiences. At her wedding, she invited Cat’s Meow, an a cappella group at PHS, to sing at her service.  

   “My favorite part of being a teacher is getting to know the students and I love to see them grow from the beginning of the school year,” Giammanco said. “I really do love my interactions with the kids every day.”

Janine Giammanco shares her passion for chemistry with students

On behalf of the state of New Jersey allowing schools to not require masks, Princeton Public Schools district made the decision to remove the mask mandate starting March 7, 2022.  

   Over the past two years, schools and communities have required masks in most public spaces. Many people believe that masks have become a part of life, including Ruchira Banerjee ’22. 

   “I wouldn’t leave my house without bringing a mask everywhere I went,” said Banerjee. “It did become the new normal, at least for me and my life, and I think at school as well.”

   One main reason that the mandate was lifted is that over 88 percent of all people aged 12 and over in Princeton are fully vaccinated. Additionally, over the past three weeks, the overall number of COVID-19 cases in the school district decreased to only around five to seven cases per week. 

   However, these low numbers still didn’t mean that the decision was an easy one for the administration. Due to the complexity of this resolution, the Board of Education worked in close collaboration with the Superintendent of Schools as well as Dr. Robert Helmrich, the PPS district physician, to ensure that the decision came at the right time.

   “Expert advice is solicited from individuals including me and the Princeton Township Health Officer.  Specifically for COVID, a Health and Safety Committee has been assembled to evaluate issues and make decisions,” Helmrich said.

   Throughout the decision process, Helmrich supported the optional masking policy for the school district. However, he believes the district needs to be flexible if the number of cases changes or if there’s another outbreak.

   “If these factors begin to trend in a less favorable direction, we would need to reevaluate all of our COVID-19 policies, including masking,” said Helmrich. “But it is reasonable to expect that there should not be a significant increase in cases, as long as overall COVID-19 activity in our community remains low.”

   The lifting of the mask mandate also benefited students in different ways. Aaron Thayer, an English teacher at Princeton High School, noticed a difference in the energy of the students in the hallways after the mandate was lifted.

   “I really have felt that students’ lives have become really blank and bleak,” said Thayer. “With a mask off, there is a lot more social interaction and more emotional triggering of people … It seems like enthusiasm is way up.”

   

PHS lifts mask mandate

As masking regulations relax, the restrictions on competition-based clubs like Speech and Debate, Ethics Bowl, and Mock Trial have returned to pre-pandemic guidelines. Throughout the pandemic, competition based clubs were not allowed to travel due to COVID-19 restrictions.       

   Although they are grateful that this is now changed, this news has come too late for the Speech and Debate team, which has missed all of its local competitions except for one, which was the last weekend of February. 

   “We were recently able to compete in our first local tournament, which was the last tournament of the season, pretty much. [But] we only got to compete at that local because it was still a virtual tournament,” said Jennifer Li, a math teacher at PHS and the Head Coach of the PHS Speech and Debate team. 

   As it is a part of the New Jersey Speech and Debate League, the school is normally able to participate in competitions hosted by other schools in the area. However, PHS struggled to compete after every school except for one transitioned to in-person tournaments.

   This problem did not just affect debate though, as all competition-based clubs were impacted. Mock Trial, for example, also lost out on the opportunity to have its competition in-person.

   “The whole [Mock Trial] competition was on zoom,” said Angelina Chen ‘22, a member of the PHS Mock Trial club. “It was a really cool experience for me in past years, and I was sad that the [other members] wouldn’t get the experience of doing it in person.” 

   Online competitions significantly impact how students experience and enjoy clubs. Jonathan Xie ‘22, a member of the PHS E-sports club, believes that competing online has taken away a large part of the experience that students could have had if they competed in person.

   “In person is so much better. Being able to look at [your opponents] sitting right next to you, screaming and bumping fists, is really fun,” said Xie.

   However, many students have remained optimistic, despite the fact that they had to compete online. This year in debate, for example, Alexander Margulis ‘24 and Ishaan Banerjee ‘24 managed to become the first sophomores in the history of PHS to ever qualify for the Public Forum Tournament of Champions, a prestigious event with entries from all around the country. 

   Moving forward, while many other clubs already missed their chance to compete, the Speech and Debate team hoped to gain approval to compete in-person at the district tournament on March 18, which would have allowed more students to have a chance to qualify for the National Speech and Debate Association national tournament. 

   “Our season starts in September and ends in March if we don’t make it to Nationals or the Tournament of Champions. So that is what all Speech and Debate students aim for.” Li said.

Travel restrictions lifted for PHS competition-based clubs

 On March 1, 2022, after four years of planning and two years of construction, the new PHS Tiger Cafe opened for the first time. The new cafe was part of a $26.9 million referendum passed in 2018 which allowed construction to begin in 2020. Although the cafe was previously planned to open in late 2020, progress was halted after the COVID-19 pandemic began.

   The cafe is located on the first floor and takes the place of the former school store, which sold common school supplies and school merchandise. Now, the store sells a variety of food and drinks, including cookies, chips, smoothies, pretzels, and coffee, all things not offered in the main cafeteria.

   “The big difference is that everything [at the cafeteria] has to be compliant with the USDA’s guidelines, and complete all the components of a lunch,” said Monique Graber, Food Services Director at the Princeton High School. “So we're selling all those different components down here at the main cafeteria with our main entrees, vegetables, fruits, and milk. But [at the new cafe], we are still compliant with school nutrition, but can sell snack items instead.”

   Unlike the main cafeteria, the new cafe is open during both the regular lunch period and one period after lunch, as well as during F Day Tiger Time. 

   “The goal was to have an area where kids could go, not during the lunch period, and kind of get snacks and other grab-and-go options,” said Graber. “Maybe when they were in between classes, or maybe during Tiger Time when the cafeteria wasn't open.”

   In general, the cafe aims to cut down on the line at the main cafeteria and provide a more accessible and convenient eating location for both staff and students. Additionally, the new cafe hopes to alleviate the risk of spreading COVID-19 that arises from the long lines at the regular cafeteria. For students, these new options and the smaller lines at the main cafeteria have not gone unnoticed.

   “I think [the new cafe] has its pros because it can take away a huge line that forms in the cafeteria where the vast majority [of students] get their food,” said Aiden Linkov ’24. “I think that [the line] is the main issue of the cafeteria that needs to be addressed, and if the school can find more ways to reduce the line that they have, then [getting lunch] will be more convenient.” 

   David Xu ’25 appreciates how the cafe allows him to eat something different every once in a while.

“Sometimes the food becomes repetitive with sandwiches and pasta everyday. Going to the new cafe makes lunch and sitting with your friends more enjoyable,” Xu said.

   So far, the cafe has been popular with the students, and Graber and the rest of the PHS Dining Services leadership team hope to keep it that way. 

   “If you guys keep telling us what you want, we can forward that to the principals and we can make stuff happen,'' said Graber. “Keep on letting us know what your thoughts are!”

New Tiger Cafe opens at PHS

Re-entering school last year felt slightly eerie for almost every PHS student. It was undoubtedly strange to experience all of the quirks that in-person education brings — picking up lunch in the cafeteria, rushing to get to our classes on time, and, of course, listening to the Pledge of Allegiance every morning.

When PHS Building Monitor Scott Goldsmith comes on the loudspeaker every morning with the Pledge, a peculiar mix of reactions can be seen among students in the hallway. Some stand still, desperately glancing around for the nearest American flag to salute, and some try to ignore the Pledge altogether, walking through the halls briskly, gazes fixated on the floor beneath them. The pledge had once been so deeply ingrained in students’ minds that no one stopped to think about the meaning of the words being recited. But when students heard the Pledge ringing in their ears for the first time in almost two years this September, many of them began to question it. The Pledge, many students realized, is deeply problematic.

The Pledge’s roots are fairly innocuous — its original prose, “I Pledge Allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,” was written in August 1892 by a minister named Francis Bellamy. In 1932, the words “the Flag of the United States of America” were added. Finally, and most worryingly, U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower added the words “under God” to the Pledge in 1954, in order to counter a growing “Communist threat.” This addition undeniably associates religion with patriotism, which is dangerous. One of Eisenhower’s close friends, Reverend George Docherty, advocated strongly for the addition of the phrase, proclaiming in a sermon Eisenhower attended that “if you deny the Christian ethic, you fall short of the American ideal of life” . This sentiment is problematic, especially when it’s so integral to a pledge that every public school in New Jersey has to recite. Being patriotic should not be tied to one single religion. Even though the Pledge never directly mentions the Christian God (although it’s heavily implied), the phrasing “under God” excludes people who follow polytheistic faiths, as well as those who simply aren’t religious. By claiming that “liberty” and “justice” are ideals that can only be achieved under the watchful eye of God, the pledge tells non-religious students that these ideals are inaccessible to them.

By forcing students to listen to the Pledge of Allegiance, New Jersey’s legislation is in violation of one of the pillars that our country is built on: the separation of church and state. Even the daughter of Francis Bellamy, the minister who wrote the initial pledge, was unhappy about the injection of God into his original sentence.

The Pledge of Allegiance is also a representation of the unnecessary amount of nationalism that surrounds the U.S. educational system as a whole. Section 18A:36–3 of New Jersey’s 2013 Revised Statutes requires U.S. flags in every classroom and auditorium in the state. This can lead many students to equivocate our flag with freedom and justice, which couldn’t be further from the truth. The United States is a nation built on the backs of enslaved peoples, a nation whose ex-president called Putin’s moves in Ukraine “genius,” and a nation where imperialism and needless proxy wars have often dominated our foreign policy. Often, our country’s messaging to the public is anything but free and just. During the Second Red Scare, when the United States was hysterical about the influx of communism across the globe, we published huge amounts of political propaganda and investigated innocent citizens that were suspected of being communists. Since America fails to hold up to traditionally “American” ideals, the flag does not represent them. By pledging allegiance to the flag, instead of promising to uphold freedom and justice, one is promising to uphold the United States’ superiority to other countries. Propaganda does not belong in our school.

PHS is better off without nationalism. The Pledge of Allegiance, where we praise America for being a country of liberty thanks to us being “under God,” is archaic and doesn’t belong in our school district. But, the state of New Jersey mandates that we recite the pledge every morning. It may seem that PHS students and staff are powerless against this infringement upon our rights. But, there can only be hope for change if we raise our voices to condemn the mandate. If we take meaningful action against this fundamentally flawed practice, it has the power to make the beginning of our school days a little less uncomfortable.

Our school would be better off without propaganda

Returning to in-person school last year, PHS students expected to be freed from the vexations of technology. To their chagrin, however, they were instead met with yet another barrage of Canvas assignments. Worse still, students found that they had to complete many of these assignments while connected to PHS’s extremely slow Wi-Fi network. If there is one thing that PHS students can all agree upon, it is the insufficiency of our school’s Wi-Fi.

A surprisingly large portion of students’ class time is spent waiting for essential websites such as Canvas and Google Docs to load. Many students who take notes on their computers are unable to do so, instead finding themselves frantically refreshing their Google Docs pages as their teachers speed through content. The sluggish pace of the Wi-Fi forces students to leave many of their in-class assignments to complete at home. Thus, these Wi-Fi problems are adding to students’ already copious workload. Even more troubling are the test-taking issues that have emerged. For many Canvas quizzes and assessments, students are expected to provide images of their work, which have to be transferred from phone to computer and then uploaded. Due to slow Wi-Fi, this process can take several minutes, which reduces the amount of time students have to actually complete their assessments. Sometimes, quizzes do not even submit properly. This problem became even more glaringly obvious with NJGPA standardized testing this month, where internet failures caused significant time delays.

Additionally, the high school has insisted that every student complete a CrisisGo COVID-19 screening prior to entering the building, a process that has also been significantly slowed by the lack of effective Wi-Fi. Instead of a seamless process where students can just walk into the building, show their completed form, and head to their first class, some students find themselves waiting for minutes on end just for the app to load. For this reason, the Tower entrance is often so crowded in the morning that it can sometimes be difficult for students there to get to their classes on time.

The Wi-Fi problem is also one of consistency. In certain rooms and hallways, the Wi-Fi works fine. But in others, the internet connection seems to cut out every few seconds. Consequently, some teachers have a significant advantage over others, enjoying a higher level of productivity from students. The dysfunction of school Wi-Fi is an issue of equality, and improving it, even just to the point that it is usable everywhere in the school, should be an issue of utmost importance to the district.

If the district is going to invest millions of dollars into technology and buy students their own computers, the school should at least provide the internet connection necessary for those computers to function. However, the district should not be held solely responsible for this problem: It is also the responsibility of students and staff at PHS to report when the Wi-Fi is struggling. Through the new Incident IQ system which can be accessed through ClassLink, students are able to easily report issues to the tech office. Right now though, students and teachers alike have failed to use this system, with the tech office reporting that they have received close to zero complaints about the Wi-Fi. As long as the tech office is not aware of the severity of the Wi-Fi problem, it will never get fixed. This is a missed opportunity on the part of both the students and staff at PHS.

The lack of effective Wi-Fi has significantly impeded students’ ability to learn at PHS. It is a problem that impacts both students and teachers on a daily basis, making some of the most basic classroom activities and tasks extremely difficult to complete. If students wish to fix this issue, they need to take the initiative and report it through the Incident IQ system. Only then will this problem finally be solved.

Your education is loading

Princeton High School must recognize the impact that a lack of gender-neutral bathrooms has on its students. Considering the discrimination and discomfort that transgender, gender-nonconforming, and queer students face at PHS, the school should convert all bathrooms to gender-neutral bathrooms. Doing so would follow a global trend towards more inclusive restrooms and establish PHS as a safe space for LGBTQ+ students. A few weeks ago, the high school’s only gender-neutral bathroom was temporarily closed. The problem that sparked the closing was students who were using the gender-neutral bathroom to vape, talk, or hang out with friends. For those who actually needed to use the bathroom, walking in and seeing several students crowded in a stall vaping was awkward and embarrassing. PHS Art Teacher Bridget Schmidt met with Principal Frank Chmiel about the issue, emphasizing the importance of making transgender and nonbinary students feel more comfortable at PHS. A group of students also came forward after the initial shutdown to discuss the negative impacts of the closure. These impacts made navigating this issue even more difficult for nonbinary students, who not only felt insecure in the gender-neutral bathrooms, but were then deprived of these facilities all together. The high school agreed to convert two existing bathrooms into gender-neutral bathrooms, which is a promising sign, but there is still a long way to go for PHS’s efforts to increase comfort for queer and gender-nonconforming students. Two new gender-neutral bathrooms in the high school is not enough. Not only will the misuse of gender-neutral bathrooms continue, but because of the sheer size of PHS, valued class time is taken away from nonbinary students who have to spend time searching for inclusive bathrooms. This could frustrate teachers and staff, who feel the need to wait on students who are using the restroom. Making gender-neutral bathrooms more accessible by converting all existing bathrooms would reduce both bathroom misuse and class time missed by students.

Moreover, transgender and gender-nonconforming students experience intolerance for their gender identities in schools across the country. Providing everyone with the possibility to use gender-neutral bathrooms is an important step towards inclusivity. This change would not only help LGBTQ+ students in our school feel that their identities have been recognized, but would also set a strong example for other schools to follow. The necessity of establishing this environment of acceptance cannot be overstated. In recent years, the mistreatment of queer youth has been on the rise, as seen in the increased number of hate crimes on the basis of gender identity. The Uniform Crime Reporting Program’s Hate Crime Statistics report disclosed that the number of hate crime incidents on the basis of gender identity went up from 198 in 2019 to 236 in 2020 in the U.S. Many queer people don’t feel safe in public. In fact, 65 percent of trans students in America are harassed in school because of their gender identity, according to a survey done by the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network in 2015. They can’t be forced to receive an education in the presence of those who they feel mean them harm, and should not have to fear for their safety everytime they need to use the bathroom. Transgender and gender-nonconforming students often feel that they will face judgment or be harassed simply by using a bathroom that matches their gender identity. Without gender-neutral bathrooms, their only other safe option is to go to the bathroom of their assigned sex at birth, which could lead to or worsen body dysphoria. We must eliminate single-gender bathrooms.

PHS wouldn’t be the first to take these steps. In many European countries, most notably Denmark and Sweden, gender-neutral restrooms are growing in popularity. In Vermont, an act passed in 2018 mandated all single-user bathrooms in public places, like schools and community centers, to be gender-neutral. These bathrooms seem to be the way forward all across the globe, and PHS should be one of the first schools in New Jersey to fully embrace that truth.

Traditionalist fear-mongering has alienated the idea of a world without single-gender bathrooms. Many fear that without the enforcement of a separation of genders, sexual harassment and assault will run rampant. However, this postulation is false. A 2014 Media Matters study covering 600,000 students over 17 school districts found that laws protecting trans students’ rights to use gender identity aligned bathrooms did not lead to any increases in sex crimes.

Though there aren’t many executive decisions that we as a student body can make, we must do all that we can to pressure school officials to take this issue seriously. The more this topic is circulated, the more likely it is to be heard by people in more powerful positions, such as the district’s Board of Education. Problems like these, no matter how uncomfortable to talk about, cannot be ignored by the school’s administration. If we want transgender and gender-nonconforming students to feel safe coming to school, action must be taken to make all bathrooms at PHS gender-neutral.

All PHS bathrooms should be gender-neutral

Every day, the death toll in Ukraine rises as Vladamir Putin bombs innocent civilans in hopes of frightening the country into submission. For more than a month, citizens around the world have been anxiously watching the confrontation, grimacing at each sign that the conflict might erupt into a global war. Yet, here at PHS, there has been a disquieting silence among both teachers and students when it comes to the conflict. Unfortunately, this pattern of ignoring current events extends beyond the current war. Largely due to the demands of PHS’s curriculum, many aspects of the past few tumultuous years have been brushed over in classrooms. But current events should not be ignored. These events impact PHS students more directly than obscure historical details that we obsessively study in AP United States History, and yet they rarely ever get taught. This trend needs to end. Teachers and administrators in our school must make sure that students are educated on current events.

The war in Ukraine has real consequences for students at PHS. Most obviously, the conflict puts everyone, regardless of age or nationality, in danger. A nuclear conflict would result in the total destruction of schools, homes, and cities. Of course, at this very moment, some PHS students are already feeling the effects of the conflict. Students who have family in Ukraine go to bed at night not knowing if their relatives will be alive the next day.

Everyone is afraid, not just those who have loved ones near the conflict. Part of this fear is undoubtedly created by confusion surrounding current events. With the increase in sensationalism and fear-mongering across social media and the web, it’s easy for those who lack the proper knowledge to buy into headlines like “WWIII is here!” The further inclusion of current events in our curricula could teach students to be skeptical of yellow journalism. The best thing that PHS could do is to tell students exactly what is going on. Our school can ease some of the students’ fears by encouraging an open discussion of the topic in classrooms. In doing so, PHS would be helping to erase feelings of helplessness, and developing the skepticism necessary for students to stay objective while reading the news.

Furthermore, PHS students can use current events to garner the research skills necessary to form their own informed opinions. Those who don’t know the history and context behind a current event are much more susceptible to misinformation and bias. Students who enter the real world lacking the essential skills of researching and fleshing out an opinion will pose a danger to our community and nation. To properly participate in democracy, students will need to be informed on local, national, and global happenings, and know how to make sense of those events. Through the engaging lens of current events, students would learn how to contextualize and analyze current events, and then form opinions on them. If we are to grow up and become useful members of our communities, we need to make sure that we have these skills.

Moreover, many students rely on their parents and close friends for their opinions because they may not have the time nor the knowledge to form their own. The school should not avoid discussing topics simply because they are controversial — in a classroom setting where a diverse range of opinions is expressed, we have a chance to help students break away from their parents’ and friends’ mold.

PHS should encourage students to express their opinions and tell them how to act on those opinions. Take the Ukraine crisis. Where can students donate? How can they raise awareness? Although there is little PHS can actually do to bring the war to a halt, it can help to provide relief to those caught in the conflict and to give students more peace of mind. In order for the school to give students a voice, it first has to tell them how to use that voice to create real change.

PHS is always working towards creating a safe environment for students to express their identities and opinions. Integrating current events into the curriculum would bring us closer to that goal, while also increasing student engagement and nurturing essential life skills. We can start by taking a few class periods to talk over the war in Ukraine, but there are so many other global catastrophes and controversies to be discussed and debated. If PHS wants to help students find their voices and speak out for their beliefs, it needs to teach current events.

PHS needs to talk about Putin

In 1972, wrestling, a traditionally male-dominated sport, became open to U.S. high school girls. While only a few schools hosted their first ever girls wrestling meet back then, today, girls wrestling has become one of the fastest-growing sports in U.S. high school. Nonetheless, many girls are discouraged to join due to the male-dominated stigma that still plagues the sport. In New Jersey, PHS girls wrestler Ava Rose ’23 is currently one of the most promising high school wrestling talents. In her five years of wrestling, Rose has shown great resilience and talent for the sport. Last month, she proved to everyone that hard work and grit can amount to success by winning the New Jersey Wrestling State Championships for the third time.



How long have you been wrestling for and what encouraged you to start wrestling?

“I’ve been wrestling for five years. My older brother didn’t like it, but I used to come and watch his practices, so I started in 7th grade. My two [younger] brothers Cole and Forest wrestle too.”



What have been your biggest accomplishments in wrestling so far?



“My biggest accomplishment has to be winning the State [Championship] because that was my biggest goal, what I most wanted to achieve. I trained really hard for that, so I’m definitely most proud of that. The very first match of the tournament was on the same mat that I was pinned on last year, kind of deja vu. I didn’t want it to end the same way. During [the match], I almost got stuck on my back during a cradle, but I told myself that it wouldn’t end like last year, and I won the game.”


Why do you think that girls should try wrestling?

“I think that everybody should do wrestling. It’s a really great sport because it teaches you responsibility while also meeting new people and making friends. The effort you put in is the results you put out. Girls wrestling is a growing sport, and soon there will be teams in college, so it’s important that girls join to keep the sport growing.”



Do you feel that girls may feel pressured not to play in high-contact sports, and if so, why?

“I definitely think there’s a weird stigma around it. I personally like playing co-ed with boys, but I think a lot of girls may find wrestling against boys as weird. Some people think that wrestling is too tough for girls, which I dont think is true at all. It’s a male-dominated sport, so a lot of people won’t think that they fit in, but wrestling is accepting of anyone.”



Do you think that girls wrestling is being promoted enough? And if not, how can it be?

“On a public level, I think it’s being promoted enough. What I think matters though is that on [an administrative] level it’s not talked about as much and it’s not seen as urgent. I believe that girls wrestling is important to include in college, but [the administration] making decisions [about sports] don’t really care.”



What are your hopes for the future of girls wrestling?

“For me, I hope that next year a lot of college girl teams will open up because I want to wrestle division I in college. There [are] only a few girls teams that wrestle division one but they are at [competitive] schools, so I want it to be more of a [collegiate] sport. Most colleges mainly have clubs right now [for girls wrestling], so I hope [collegiate girls wrestling] opens up so I can have a good college to go to.”

Girls Wrestling State Champion Ava Rose ’23 on why girls should join wrestling

With poise and confidence, Kendall Williamson ’22 steps onto the starting line of the 55-meter girls sprint. Ready, set, go! Pushing off the starting block with all her strength, Kendall Williamson ’22 swiftly flies into first place. With five years of running experience, Williamson has become one of the best girls sprinters in PHS track history.

   Growing up, Williamson was an avid gymnast in pursuit of becoming a collegiate gymnast. However, after multiple injuries during her eight year career, including fracturing her back, she decided to quit the sport. Looking for a sport to replace gymnastics, she started running track in the spring of eighth grade. During her first season, she noticed that her experience with the vault in gymnastics aided her transition to sprinting, both of which require the ability to initiate a strong start. 

   Joining track at PHS in her freshman year, PHS short-distance track coach Ben Samara was impressed by both her natural talent and perseverance. Williamson’s track career quickly began picking up pace and in her sophomore year, she won two county titles, one for the 55-meter dash and another for the 200. In her junior year, she was named a co-captain of the track team.

   “She’s a very talented athlete, like one of the best ever at PHS. I think she even scored a record on one of the relay teams when she was a freshman or a sophomore, which is definitely a huge accomplishment. At every meet she's always placing very high in the rankings, and we're all super proud of what she's accomplished,” said teammate Katherine Monroe ’23. 

   While Williamson likes to joke around with her teammates beforehand, her focus sharpens as soon as she puts one foot on the block. Over the years, her commitment and tenacity have led her to win many competitive titles, break a PHS record in the 4x100 relay, and qualify for prestigious national meets. At the 2022 New Balance Indoor Nationals, her 55-meter dash time was 7.39 seconds, achieving a personal record and missing the school record by two hundredths of a second.

   “[She’s] improved her mental focus. We work on new stuff every single day, and she's done a great job improving on those points.” Samara said.

   Of course, Williamson’s success didn’t come overnight. Long hours of training her timings on the block, practicing her strides, and improving her mentality, are what allowed her to build sufficient stamina and mental resistance.

   “It gets hard sometimes, but quitting has never crossed my mind. I love running and I want to continue to do it,” Williamson said.

   COVID-19 was one of the biggest challenges Williamson had to face. During the track season in 2020, her favorite feeling of flying across the finish line was temporarily put on hold as many meets were canceled. To keep training, the team transitioned onto the PHS track. 

   “We are very used to being able to practice twice a week at Jadwin gym at Princeton University in the winter and for two seasons now we haven't been able to do that. Having to adjust to doing workouts outside is something that we're still working on, but we're trying to make the best of every moment,” Samara said.

   Looking towards the spring season, Williamson hopes to break the school record for the 100-meter and 200-meter dash and place in the top ten in the state for the same events. 

   “It's looking like she's right there,” said Samara. “Right now she’s one of the top three or four we've had and is close to breaking a bunch of school records this year.”

   Williamson plans to continue her track career as a DI commit to Wake Forest University. Becoming a collegiate track athlete was a dream turned reality for Williamson, and she hopes to inspire others to work towards their goals.

   “Work hard. Stay positive. It's really important to have a good mindset because if you're negative that really affects your performance. Just keep working hard because it really does pay off in the end,” Williamson said.

Kendall Williamson ’22: track and field

As the opposing teams’ attackman charges toward the net, with skill and speed, Will Erickson ‘22 sprints down the lacrosse field, and blocks his shot.

   The PHS Boys Lacrosse team has seen great success at the state and national level, and as a key defenseman, Erickson has played a major role in this success. Since the beginning of Erickson’s high school career, there have been moments of difficulty and frustration; however, Erickson’s love for lacrosse never faltered. 

   From the age of five, Erickson could be seen holding his ground in baseball, hockey, and lacrosse. When it came to making a decision between the sports, he prioritized lacrosse, preferring its fast pace and many moving parts. As an NJ All-Star and Blue Star Lacrosse player since sixth grade, Erickson’s lacrosse career quickly took off. Entering PHS, he played multiple varsity lacrosse games in his freshman year and was named varsity starter in his sophomore year.

   “My first impressions were that he had one of the intangibles of being good at athletics. He just really loved being part of a team and wanted his team to succeed. He was always trying to find a way to make his team better,” said Assistant Lacrosse Coach Peter Stanton. 

   As the co-captain of the team this year, Erickson is critical to the team’s success. Although he’s grown into an extremely vocal leader and a strong source of motivation for his teammates, it was the lacrosse environment that allowed him to cultivate his leadership skills and resiliency.  

   “As he’s matured through the program, he’s been molded into a very vocal and exemplary leader. He’s a great leader and player and needless to say, he’s a lock down defenseman on the field,” said teammate Will Doran ‘22.

   Throughout his years on the team, Erickson has had countless role models that have impacted both his mentality and play. Two in particular are Carson Giles ‘19, the PHS Captain when he was a freshman, and Chris Fake, a Yale University defenseman and one of his club coaches. 

   “I look up to the incredible example that Carson set for leadership and how he made the most of his time on the lacrosse field,” said Erickson. “I look up to Fake’s incredible work ethic both on the lacrosse field and in the weightroom, and how he attacks every matchup with confidence even when going up against the best attackmen in the country.”

   Although Erickon’s schedule is packed with balancing two sports and schoolwork, time management has never been a real challenge for him. 

   “Most practices are at convenient times and leave ample time for family, friends, or school afterwards. The main thing that can be hard to fit in is workouts, but waking up before school and getting them in makes it a lot simpler,” Erickson said.

   Throughout his high school career, Erickson has become a role model for many younger players on the team. For Patrick Kenah ‘24, Erickson’s positive attitude has helped foster the growth of his own strengths.

   “Will is a very likable guy. He listens to what you have to say and [is] a mentor and someone to look up to. This is one of the main reasons why people instill trust in him,” Kenah said.

   In addition to his own hard work, having some of his best friends on the field has kept him motivated throughout his career. Heading to Williams College as a Division I athlete commit, Erickson will be joining his best friends and teammates, Will Doran and Alex Park, as they take their academic and lacrosse careers to the next level. 

   “The fact that he’s going to get an opportunity to really have a well balanced and well integrated academic experience. The thing about Will is that he’s a kid that earns everything he gets and he’s going to get a chance to really earn it and prove his value to a team. I think that's all you could ask for,” said Stanton.

Will Erickson ’22: lacrosse

Kelly Curtis ’07 takes a deep breath as she kneels down on the Olympic ice track before her. With the crowd cheering before her, she sprints forward and slides straight onto her skeleton sled. Propelling up to unfathomable speeds of up to 120 km/h, Curtis flies down the skeleton track of her first Olympic Games. 

   As the first Black U.S. Olympic athlete ever to compete in skeleton, Curtis placed 21st in the Beijing Olympics women’s skeleton race. Prior to the Olympics, she placed 6th at the 2022 St. Moritz World Cup, clutching a qualifying spot in the U.S. Olympic team. 

   Growing up in Princeton, Curtis never thought she would be doing skeleton, let alone go to the Olympics. Nevertheless, as the youngest of four athletic siblings, she enjoyed playing all types of sports as a child, including basketball and baseball. 

   Aside from the opportunities to participate in athletics, her favorite aspect about being a part of her sport-loving family was watching the annual Penn Relays. Every year on Take Our Daughters and Sons To Work Day, her father, John Curtis, former NFL player and PHS Athletic Director of ten years, took her to the meet.
  “He would always take [me] to the Penn relays and watch the PHS girls [compete] in the 4x100 and 4x400. So I just always thought that’s what his job was: to go watch track and field everyday. Once I got a little bit older, I understood that his job entails a lot more than that, but I always just love that aspect of it,” Curtis said. 

   Curtis also enjoyed participating in the many conventional childhood activities that Princeton offers. In her downtime, Curtis would always find herself exploring the downtown area or watching sporting events at the university. She also looked forward to skating on Carnegie Lake in the wintertime, exploring Communiversity with her friends every April, and working as a lifeguard at the Community Park pool during summer break.  

   At PHS, Curtis was a two-sport athlete: a starting guard on the basketball team and a jumper and hurdler on the track team for all four years of high school. In her senior year, she became captain of both teams. Assistant Track Coach at the time and now Assistant Principal Rashon Johnson was introduced to Curtis when she was a senior and noticed her athletic capability and leadership asset.  

   “She was a hard worker, fun loving, and a good teammate. She was just one of those good students that left a good impression with pretty much everybody you came in contact with,” Johnson said. 

   Apart from being an avid high school athlete, Curtis participated in many programs that benefited the Princeton community. For instance, she served as class secretary junior year. Additionally, she was part of Corner House, serving on the Student Board in her senior year. As a student board leader, she started the Corner House All-City Dodgeball Tournament, one of the most popular school events at PHS today.

   “I started the [Dodgeball Tournament] because I wanted all my peers to have an event to blow off the steam right after all the AP exams,” said Curtis. “I was able to coordinate it to have it the day after all the big APs were done.”

   Closing out her senior year, Curtis was awarded the Athlete of the Year and the Girls Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards. She continued her track career during her post-graduate year at The Lawrenceville School, where she polished her skills as a well-rounded track athlete, setting her up to compete as a heptathlete collegiately. During her year at Lawrenceville, she racked up Prep A titles for long jump, high jump, hurdles, javelin, and still holds a school record in the triple jump. After a brief period at Tulane University, Curtis transferred to Springfield College, where her track career took off. She was a two-time Indoor New England Division III Pentathlon champion and earned All-American honors in the Outdoor NCAA heptathlon. 

   Among all the accomplishments, her most meaningful memory was winning the Penn Relays, coming full circle with her childhood memories.

   “I [had to] convince my track coach to let me go compete there because it wasn’t on our schedule. For me to just be able to compete there was an amazing experience. Then for me to win it, I was just ... overwhelmed,” Curtis said. 

   After her undergraduate years, she went to graduate school at St. Lawrence University, where she studied sports management and was an assistant track coach. Interested in exploring more of upstate New York, she decided to drive to Lake Placid and try bobsledding. After continuously getting invited back to slide, she was eventually recruited for the bobsled combine, a series of track-oriented tests to be recruited as a bobsled athlete. After eyeing the skeleton racers at the combine, at the age of 26, Curtis decided to try skeleton for the first time. 

   “I decided to switch because I enjoyed sliding the skeleton more. In bobsled, especially as a brakeman, it is pretty violent on the body... when I tried skeleton for the first time, I was like, this feels way better. It’s just a lot more fun and I have more control of my own progression,” Curtis said. 

   Skeleton is not a sport that can be easily mastered, but Curtis was one of the few that was able to excel in a short time period. Believed to be one of the most dangerous sports, skeleton racers need expert balance and control as they lie head first on a flat sled racing down an icy track. Within the first few years of her career, she won the North American Cup twice, qualifying her for the U.S. National Team. She attributes her smooth transition into the sport to her track background.

   “When I'm on the [skeleton] track I just try to be as explosive and powerful and fast as possible. All my track and field training as a very short sprinter trained explosiveness and speed, so I can transfer that over.You're just trying to get those same mechanics, it's just in a more extreme angle, like completely bent over,” Curtis said.

   However, her successes were not without challenges.

   “If you're looking to make an eight year commitment and not see family and friends for very important birthdays and holidays and [spend] your disposable income on a crazy sport, then come on, try it. I wouldn’t say it sacrifices, but it’s decisions that you have to make in order to be here and sometimes it sucks. But sometimes you make it to the Winter Olympics,” Curtis said. 

   For Curtis, making it to the Olympics was a dream come true. However, when the media announced her achievement of being the first Black athlete to compete in skeleton, Curtis received backlash online due to her biracial ethnicity — many online believed that she did not “look” black. In response, Curtis believes that both black and multiracial representation is significant to the development of winter sports in the future. 

   “A lot of people will look at me and they don’t see that [I am Black]. But I know that through the progression through my own family’s history, what I accomplished is a very big deal,” said Curtis. “Growing up, I didn’t see anybody that I knew [in the Winter Olympics] that had a similar background to me. For me to be able to come out and represent both sides of my heritage has just been a true honor.”

  Her successes, not just as a biracial athlete, but as a PHS alumna, have left a significant legacy in the community. Currently, in PHS’s Black History Month trophy case, her picture is alongside others who have influenced PHS students, such as Michelle Obama and Simone Biles. 

“What [Curtis] is telling people and [all] the students of our school is you can do it. You can follow your dreams. Don’t dream small, dream big. And if you do the work, you can make those dreams come true,” Johnson said.

    Along with being an accomplished athlete, Curtis is also a member of the U.S Air Force. She joined the Air Force World Class Athlete Program in 2020 after her teammate five-time Olympian Katie Uhlaender introduced it to her. The World Class Athlete Program allows soldiers to perform at their international level while also serving their nation in the military. Since 1948, 446 soldiers have represented the United States at the Olympics, earning 111 medals in a variety of sports. At Beijing, Curtis was the only Olympian who was part of the program. 

   “It’s been a true honor for me to be able to represent all the great service members. I’m really looking forward to working on base moving forward so that I can meet and learn more about my fellow wingmen,” Curtis said.

   In the future, Curtis hopes to continue both her skeleton career and her budding Air Force career. She has aspirations to secure a podium spot in the world championships next year as well as a spot at the 2026 Winter Games. When she isn’t training for skeleton, she hopes to spend time to work on the process of becoming a U.S. Air Force officer.  

   “I have just been so blessed to have a community and a family behind me that have been supportive since day one. And having a community like Princeton behind me has made this that much easier. For me to make the Olympics with only eight years [experience] wouldn’t have been possible without that community support,” Curtis said. 



The Tower

March, 2022 Archives

The Tower