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

Analog mindset in a modern world

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

Cons of participation: How important is class participation?

The most valuable resource in a classroom isn’t any textbook, worksheet, or even the expertise of the teacher. It’s the voices and thoughts of the students, which are often overlooked when students stay silent in class. Your perspective contributes to not only the class discussion, but also your own knowledge.

Simply engaging in the classroom discussion practices the content you have learned and allows you to articulate your ideas. When a student is simply passively listening to the teacher in class, they aren’t actively thinking and putting their knowledge into use. Not doing so means none of this is happening. AP United States History and Accelerated Sociology teacher Elizabeth Taylor has observed this in many of her students.

 “I think many of us, if we’re sitting in a discussion, and we’re sitting passively, we might think, ‘Oh, I had that idea. I could have phrased it that well,’ but until we actually have to phrase it ourselves, we don’t know how we would have phrased it, and we don’t get the actual practice of doing so,” said Taylor. 

According to a 2006 study conducted by New York University, 72 percent of students who started participating more often in class found their grades to be improving, and 75 percent of students who didn’t participate as much felt that their ability in that class was rather lackluster. This is especially true for subjects such as foreign languages, where participation is the most effective way of learning. Without frequent participation, students are far more prone to zoning out and having things go over their head. 

Aside from deeper understanding of the material, participating in class also creates a healthier learning environment, radiating a positive energy and allowing multiple perspectives to be seen. With only a few students chipping in, the classroom feels repetitive and stale. It becomes a routine for only those students to talk. English II teacher Greta Muça recognizes the importance of creating this positive environment in her classroom.

 “You are helping others get new ideas. Those ideas that the students have may be unique or they may not be unique. And other students may see that their thoughts are either mirrored by somebody else or they’re going to complete their thoughts. There’s just something about being able to speak aloud and communicate with others, creating an environment where people want to learn. If you’re not communicating, then learning becomes sort of the thing that you just do on your own, and you’re here to do it with other people,” said Muça. 

Despite these benefits, many students refrain from participating, whether because they’re too shy, or simply are afraid of getting the answer wrong. If you’re one of these students, consider starting from less intimidating settings. Build up your confidence in smaller breakout groups, then slowly ease into larger class discussions. Set a participation goal for yourself every day, and slowly increase it. Even just reflecting upon how much you participated and the reasons why you did can help out greatly. 

It may not seem like much, but simply just expressing your ideas to both yourself and your peers will help you out by a considerable amount. So the next time you find yourself hesitating to participate, raise your hand, and raise the standard of your learning.

Photo:Emily Kim

Melvin Qiu ’27 verbally participates in Dr. Danvers’s AP Latin class by reading out his translation homework.

Pros of participation: How important is class participation 

Abandoned in favor of modern methods like YouTube videos and digital practice tests, students frequently put their textbooks to the side in favor of online approaches. According to K-12 Dive’s 2023 article, “teachers increasingly [turn] to digital, self-created materials for lessons.” Additionally, a 2023 survey produced by Bay View Analytics indicates that paper textbook use in K-12 classrooms has declined by “nine percentage points ... compared to the year before”. This seems unsurprising, considering the downsides of paper texts; they are heavy, hard to search through, and often unavailable for annotations. Yet, books can be an essential resource for test preparation, especially for others that may not have access to digital resources. 

Despite the immense popularity of digital resources that have swept our schools today, using textbooks remains one of the most effective ways to study. After all, they are the basis of many class curricula. In particular, AP prep books are assembled by pulling common information from previous exams, making them a necessity for any student looking for college credit. 

Therefore, if they are so key in a student’s understanding of the curriculum, they should be utilized by everyone looking to succeed. But sometimes students are unable to access these books easily due to financial issues. For example, according to Prep Maven’s list of “the 11 Best SAT Prep Books,” the price of these books can range from $25 to $65 for a single book. This can pose a struggle for some students, as that amount of money is simply too high to spend on one class. This creates inequity in the academic space, in which some students are able to afford prep books and others can only use free digital resources. 

Furthermore, there is a lack of awareness about resources already available to students. Indeed, many students do not know that there are actually study materials ready to be checked out in the IDEAS Center at PHS. 
“I didn’t know that you could check out textbooks,” said Nicole Mah ’29. “I was unaware of such a resource.” 
The IDEAS Center’s shelves full of study books have great potential to help even the imbalance, but they need to be promoted through inclusion in the freshman orientation spiel and other information from administration. Additional initiatives to encourage book sharing can also create a collaborative environment where resources are readily available. Starting a book drive, for example, allows students who no longer use their prep books to donate them to the school. For example, students who have already taken the SAT or a one-time AP exam don’t need a guide anymore. This would create a library of current resources available to all students.

A sharing program could also be implemented with the existing textbooks we have. If two students are studying for the same test, such as SATs or an AP test, a librarian can help them share a textbook and have a group study session. This also encourages students to communicate and interact with each other, resulting in stronger relationships as well as better academic results. 

By increasing awareness of existing materials and creating opportunities for students to share them with each other, PHS can ensure that all students have an equal opportunity to succeed. However, the collective sharing of resources only works if enough people take advantage of it, so the next time you consider buying a $25 Princeton Review book, check the shelves in the IDEAS Center first. More often than not, you’ll find what you need.

Photo:Viola Que

The shelves in the IDEAS Center are well-stocked with test prep materials for students to take and reference.

Textbook sharing is underappreciated

“I’m going to community college!”

Whether in response to a college rejection or a bad grade on a math test, these common, sarcastic jokes frame community colleges and other high-accepting schools as last resorts in an academic career. These jokes only work because we have collectively decided that four-year, name-brand universities sit at the top of the pyramid while everything else is a step down. However, constructing a culture, whether intentionally malicious or not, in which community colleges are placed at the butts of jokes and looked down upon causes students undue stress and shame while leading people to overlook their benefits. 

In the long span between September and April, we hear about many college acceptances publicly announced through Instagram posts and merchandise. These moments should all be treasured as celebrations of hard work finally paying off, yet they are often scrutinized, spiraling into unsolicited discussions around an applicant’s portfolio and abilities. For many, attending community college is the most realistic and affordable path to receive higher education, costing, on average, one-third of in-state tuition at four-year universities. For others, community college is where their parents earned degrees after immigrating, working multiple jobs, or returning to school later in life. When we decide to make a mockery out of these institutions, we are not just insulting the institution; we are reinforcing elitist values and disrespecting the effort and sacrifice behind the people who walk through those doors in the hopes of appealing to something greater.

Of course it’s okay to have different standards based on our unique circumstances. However, our words don’t exist within a vacuum — they are heard, echoed, and internalized by countless others beyond our initial milieu. We don’t know who will hear our words and how they will interpret it. Referring to a school as “mid” or joking that you are committed to a low-ranked school simply tells those who choose to attend these institutions that their goals, finances, and futures are worth less than yours. These harmful remarks ultimately instill an elitist mindset into PHS’s culture, not only discouraging disadvantaged students but also perpetuates a stressful environment for all college applicants.

You never know how life will turn out. College admissions work the same way: none of us fully controls which schools accept us, how much financial aid gets allocated to us, or which campus will actually feel like home once we live in it. If the process itself is so unpredictable, framing certain choices as inferior starts to look pretty shallow and naive. One person’s “backup” might be another person’s dream school, or the loving place that lets them stay close to family, hold a job, or graduate without decades of debt. When we make fun of particular institutions, we are truly revealing how limited and cursory our own definition of success really is. 

Let’s stop making elitist college decision jokes

After a long day at school, you open up TikTok and are immediately greeted by a satisfying honey-covered keyboard, soft whispers, and cute animals bringing you plates of food. With the prevalence of social media, comfort-inducing content is available at your fingertips. While these elements are intended to have positive impacts on individuals, the relief we feel remains hollow as we consume artificial mass-produced content designed to keep us engaged. 


Comfort content to help consumers relax, such as ASMR, cute animal clips, and bedtime stories, have always been a popular staple of the internet, as they help reduce stress for viewers. In recent years however, AI-generated videos have slowly been infiltrating the feel-good content industry. While watching glass being spread on toast may seem harmless on the surface, AI content’s rise has led to concerns about authenticity, desensitization, and the displacement of real creators. If the use of artificial intelligence in writing is already criticized for taking away human creativity, then its presence in content creation should also be dialed back.


AI comfort content typically refers to videos or clips generated by artificial intelligence designed to make viewers feel calm, relaxed, and supported. At a glance, there is little distinction between AI-generated content and traditional comfort media: a relaxing ASMR voice, a sleepy cat resting by a tree with Lo-fi music in the background, or a bedtime story told by a gentle voice. However, the truth is that none of the AI content is real. There is no human behind the ASMR voice, no real cute kitty behind the camera, and no narrator presenting to the audience. Algorithms optimize everything to stimulate the brain and keep people hooked.


Even though AI comfort content is artificial, its rapid growth can be attributed to how people use the internet to relieve stress. Many people crave something soft and predictable. Unlike real creators, AI doesn’t need breaks, money, or any sort of creativity, allowing it to produce a surplus of content for people to absorb whenever they want. Furthermore, social media algorithms favor this type of content because it can hold viewers’ attention longer with its easy-to-consume format. For many users, especially students and younger audiences, it becomes background noise to help calm the mind. 


However, AI comfort content’s rapid growth has created a number of concerns regarding ethicality, authenticity, and its effect on real creators. The first issue is misleading audiences. Most AI-generated videos do not explicitly state that they are artificially created, causing people to support and connect with something that isn’t real. One example of a clip that had the internet fooled was a viral video of bunnies jumping on a trampoline from the perspective of a security camera. The footage amassed over 200 million views before people began catching on. Videos like this highlight how AI-generated content has already begun blurring the line between imagination and reality. 


“If a user were to see a video that was AI generated, they would likely skip it pretty fast. But, if there was no tag, they would be more likely to watch the video, be entertained by what they saw, and maybe even support the channel,” said Ryan Naini ’28.


The second issue is that AI content is replacing real creators. AI tools can easily replicate the cadence and style of human creators without giving them any credit or compensation. 

Furthermore, the algorithms that artificial intelligence uses are trained on real human content, allowing for different styles, voices, and visuals to be adopted without consent. As a result, many artists, animators, and storytellers who share a genuine connection with their audience are losing their position in the algorithm to AI-generated slop. On the other hand, users who don’t put in the time or effort to make original content can easily gain followers and farm engagement by exclusively pumping out endless AI-generated clips. As people slowly accept mass-produced AI-generated content over genuine human products, real human creativity begins to get lost. 


As AI-generated content continues to grow, it’s all the more important for us to think before liking and sharing. Being mindful about what we consume by asking ourselves if what we are watching was made with effort or if it’s just an industry plant helps protect creativity, human emotion, and authenticity online. Above all, we pay our attention to human creators who put time, thought, and meaning into what they put out. Next time you see an AI generated video, let the algorithm know that fabrication and content plagiarism is unwelcome by scrolling without interacting, or, even better, clicking “I’m not interested.” 

How we treat AI comfort content

On October 1, 2025, the government shut off the lights for 43 days in the longest government shutdown in American history. Although necessary programs including emergency rooms, air traffic control, law enforcement, and border security were left operational, those programs began to be compromised as the shutdown continued.


Food stamps, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) are necessary programs that had started to wane following the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s loss of funding from the shutdown. SNAP benefits—which provide assistance for low-income families to buy necessary groceries—were temporarily paused. Another food aid program, WIC, which supplies food for families with children up to five years old, was also on the verge of being cut entirely. According to CBS News, around 42 million Americans rely on SNAP, including 8.7 percent of New Jersey residents. That’s 826,575 people living in New Jersey whose livelihoods were threatened by this cut in funding.


In the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, having adequate food is considered a fundamental right. As students at PHS, we are taught to be empathetic and improve the communities around us. We cannot be bystanders to the institutions meant to protect our most vulnerable while facing this challenging time in our nation. 


Although state governments are starting to reinstate benefits after the shutdown’s end, the situation highlights the increasing importance of community-based pantries in the face of government instability. SNAP relies on local grocery stores as the backbone of their program. They provide families with supplemental funds, and participating grocery stores—which are already equipped with sufficient stock, storage, refrigeration, staff, and trucks—handle the consumer side of the process.
When SNAP is cut, families are forced to turn to food banks. Unlike grocery stores, pantries are unable to rely on corporate establishments, and thus scaling up supply to meet rising demand is incredibly challenging. At Mercer County Arm in Arm, there has already been a 20 percent increase in demand for food services in the last year, and their burden only increased under the shutdown. Arm in Arm explained in their newsletter that the SNAP crisis prompted “[serving] 250 additional families weekly by extending pantry hours at two sites and bolstering our food resources which requires more funding and more volunteers. To do this for just one month will cost close to $50,000.” Food banks are running out of food, finding that they are understaffed to serve the influx of people coming in, and above all, running out of cash. 


By donating their time and effort, PHS students can help alleviate the hardships of Arm in Arm and other vital community resources. Many offer weekly volunteer opportunities, and the club PHS Food Aid hosts monthly drives at local farmer’s markets. From collecting money or packaged goods, to working on educating the people around you, there are an infinite number of possibilities when it comes to fighting food insecurity in Princeton. 

Photo courtesy of: Evan Raphael

Evan Raphael ‘26 leads a drive with PHS Food Aid for Arm in Arm.

SNAP cuts strain food pantries

Free speech has always been a fundamental pillar of America. The very first amendment states, “Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” Yet, this core value is now under attack by our government, which seeks to stamp out all opposition through various media outlets — and it is our duty to resist. 

The Trump administration has already cut off all federal funding towards National Public Radio (NPR), including local broadcasting stations who rely on the funding. Without it, many of them will eventually shut down, cutting off the region from local, state, and even national news. This has  created news deserts, where citizens are left in the dark and more susceptible to misinformation. These deserts continue to worsen as the lack of federal funding continues.  By allowing the funding to be cut off, broadcasting stations, including New Jersey’s own NPR station, would be forced to work with limited resources, where communities are left without reliable information to hold those in power accountable. Additionally, Voice of America, another federally-funded broadcaster, originally founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda, was cut off for being too “anti-Trump.”

Lawsuits are one of the main weapons the administration uses to corner private press organizations and media conglomerates into submission. The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Paramount are among the few that have been accused of defamation and sued for billions of dollars. Most recently, late night television show host Jimmy Kimmel’s program was suspended from ABC network after making comments about Trump’s insensitive reaction towards conservative influencer Charlie Kirk’s assasination. While late-night hosts are entertainers, they are also crucial social commentators. Punishing them for their critique enforces the idea that dissent should be met with total erasure.

The press acts as an unofficial check on the government’s power, one of the main reasons the government is going after them. The recent moves from the administration creates an environment where people learn to fear dissent and debate — a textbook move of an authoritarian government. At times, it’s easy to view it as a distant drama, not directly impacting our own school. However, the principle behind it has a trickle-down effect, which can lead right to student journalism. An attack on the press is also an attack on the public’s right to know. 
 
  Not all of these freedom of speech limitations are affecting the press; they are also affecting corporations and their rights to advertise to the public. The Trump administration has recently been working on preventing pharmaceutical prescription drug ads from airing on television and other forms of media. Although these ads can be misleading in their presentation, it is also a protected practice for the companies by the freedom of speech. Trying to ban these ads from airing would be a direct violation of the freedom of speech of the companies and is an example of how far-reaching the government’s power is over all kinds of media.

   So, how can we resist? We need to support independent journalism, call out censorship, and spread verified information. We need to take the media we consume with a grain of salt and validate it ourselves. The future of American democracy depends on informed citizens.

The weakening of the free press

People love to argue. In recent politics, debates are upheld as the primary arena of resolving disagreements between the parties involved. However, another way to understand disagreement is through political discussions, designed not for winning, but for mutual comprehension and a productive conversation.

Political discussions provide a more non-judgemental and collaborative approach to addressing diverse viewpoints. They prioritize possessing a receptive mindset and encourage listening to an opposing side in order to find common ground. Debates, on the other hand, trap people in a perceived competition and the desire to win, creating division where one side loses and is seen as incorrect.

The core issues surrounding political debates are that they are slowly becoming less productive due to individuals’ unwillingness to understand different perspectives. Debate encourages people to argue that their side is better, and to hopefully influence an audience or an opponent in the process. This incentivizes participants to defend their points at all costs, refusing to budge and grant a “win” to their “opponent.” As a result, what is meant to be a space for civilized disagreement about social issues now transforms into a pointless battleground where both sides refuse to yield an inch of understanding. For example, a survey conducted by Pew Research Center in 2020 revealed that when reflecting on the 2020 presidential campaign, 76 percent of U.S. adults felt that the campaign was too negative. Additionally, 72 percent of participants felt that it was not focused on important policy issues.  

Despite this current trend, it is possible to foster a more open-minded approach to expressing political opinions. Shifting away from divisive political debates and towards discussions can be practiced right here in our classrooms. By building off of ideas instead of tearing them down, students can educate themselves about different perspectives and appreciate nuances to better understand complex issues. Communicating respectfully with those they may not agree with is a valuable life skill, and prioritizing discussion prepares students to become more open and effective leaders in the future.

Students must choose the more productive path of mutual comprehension in political discussions. Moving away from tearing down others’ opinions and instead emphasizing listening is how we will finally find the common ground necessary for genuine progress in our society. 

Our political debates need a makeover

Cheers and Jeers: October 2025

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

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

PHS students travel to Italy 

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


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

Flash Feature: PHS's research program

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

Classic horror movies to add to your Halloween watchlist

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

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

Football team banned from playoffs

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

Fall recap

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

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

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