On October 21, the
international organization
Seeds of Peace held an online
assembly at PHS between 9:40
a.m. and 10:40 a.m. during a
60-minute homeroom day. The
organization aims to cultivate
leaders who work together
across diverse backgrounds
to create more equitable and
inclusive societies. Across the
world, the team works with
students worldwide and engages
in various dialogues designed to
shift attitudes and perceptions,
promote understanding, and
build respect and empathy.

During their presentation at
PHS, two speakers were featured:
Ittay Flescher, from Israel, and
Suma Qawasmi, from Palestine,
who each shared their personal
experiences living in the Middle
East amidst the ongoing conflict.
The event aimed to provide
students with a better ability to
enjoy meaningful dialogue with
others on controversial topics.

“[We are here] to show you
that, [even though] Suma and I
don’t agree on a lot of things, we’re
still friends, we work together,
and we bring children, who are
living this war and are talking to
each other and trying to work out
how to share Jerusalem in peace,”
said Flescher.

During the meeting, Flescher
and Qawasmi shared tools
students can use to help them
navigate through challenging
conversations. In addition,
they also gave insights into a
few activities they do with the
students at their camp and the
importance of having these
dialogues.

“The message is we, who are
living in this conflict — and
we have all the reasons in the
world to not want to meet with
each other — can maybe serve
as role models to you [so that]
you can also find ways to listen
and have difficult conversations,”
said Flescher. “It’s not talking for
the sake of talking, it’s talking
for the sake of building peace.
And building peace means
creating a circumstance where
everyone has freedom, justice,
and equality.”

In May, Princeton University
became a focal point for student
activism like other colleges
nationwide. During the studentled “Gaza Solidarity
Encampment”
protest on Canon
Green, which
lasted for three
weeks, students
led sit-ins, rallies, and speeches,
demanding the university divest
from organizations associated
with Israeli military efforts.
Some students from PHS left
their classes to participate in the
university protests.

After the protests, Principal
Cecilia Birge met with the PHS
Jewish Students Club and the
PHS Muslim Student Union,
both of which shared a desire
to communicate to understand
each other’s perspectives and
seek respect and understanding.
Following her meetings with
the clubs, Birge also organized a
dialogue between some Muslim
and Jewish teachers at PHS
to better understand their
viewpoints and how they handle
and address differences in their
community.

“[They] have been my
intellectual and cultural
support system as I navigated
the complexities surrounding
the encampment at Princeton
University. I spent countless
hours with them — listening
to their stories, engaging in
meaningful discussions,
exploring different perspectives,
and even challenging my own
assumptions,” said Birge.

One of Birge’s major
realizations was that a singular
approach that intends to create
an inclusive environment for
everyone doesn’t always work.

“Both communities contain
diverse viewpoints, which are
often overlooked when issues
are framed in oversimplified
narratives of right versus wrong
or good versus bad. These
conversations highlighted the
need to embrace nuance and
complexity when addressing
sensitive topics. What stood out
most was the shared desire across
both communities for peace,
mutual respect, and dignity for
all.”

With these findings, over the
summer, Birge, Superintendent
Kathie Foster, and Assistant
Superintendent
for Curriculum
and Instruction
Kimberly Tew,
met with other
organizations,
including
Seeds of Peace, that prioritize
peace building. Birge discovered
that the teams’ mission was
similar to the school district’s
goals for education, subsequently
organizing an assembly for
students and a panel meeting
with teachers.

“We found their approach
and philosophy are aligned
with our district’s mission to
‘prepare all of our students to
lead lives of joy and purpose
as knowledgeable, creative and
compassionate citizens of a global
society,’ and that ‘our schools are
places of care where every child is
known, every culture valued, and
where kindness and courage are
modeled,’” said Birge.

In his activism, Flescher puts
emphasis on the importance of
caring about the current conflict
and engaging in productive
dialogue. Through Seeds of
Peace, Flescher and his team
aim to demonstrate to children
that dialogue can foster peace,
and that trust and friendships
with different people can enable
significant positive change.

“What we have been trying to
do is to say that the ... present
reality, which is horrifying,
doesn’t need to be a blueprint
for our future,” said Flescher.
“We have the power to create a
different future, and that starts
with seeing the humanity in
every person, especially those
who differ from us.

PHS hosts a Seeds of Peace assembly

While Princeton High School sophomores and juniors
took the PSAT this month, they had a significantly better
testing experience compared to last year. As an investment
to improve the school’s testing infrastructure, PHS
replaced over 350 access points and added an additional
50 access points in new locations. However, improvements
to internet networks expanded beyond both PHS and
testing-related infrastructure. The improvements were
a district-wide endeavor, with the PPS technology team
upgrading both wireless and physical infrastructure
in all schools. The team replaced all access points and
old cabling, bringing them to the newest standard.

“We replaced everything to be WiFi six ready, just
[the] latest, greatest technology ... It’s for our general
network for the entire district, which, again, will
help testing,” said Danny Turner, district engineer.

 Not only did the upgrade resolve short-term issues with
testing, it was also an investment towards the ditrict future.
As technology use becomes inceasingly prevalent within
the district, networks need to be upgraded to support
students that are constantly on their school devices.

“Now we have the newest standard for cabling.
The old cabling was 20 years old. The new cabling is
what’s being installed nowadays for everything. So
even in X number of years that we do go to change
this again, we won’t need to change all that cabling,”
said Todd MacDonald, PPS’s chief technology officer.

The changes were prompted by issues during testing last
year, where several students were unable to test in certain
classrooms and others experienced frequent crashes of
the testing infrastructure. Though the technology office
acknowledged most problems were not on the school’s
end, the improvements will ensure confidence in the
network and in determining the source of any issue.

“The issue, from what I’ve heard, was actually
more on the testing company’s end than our
end,” said MacDonald. “We’re confident that ...
there’ll be no issues in our network for this year.”

Overall, this investment positively impacted the
students’ testing experience as students were able to
focus on the actual test rather than ways to resolve
the frequent technical issues. Improvements aim to
guarantee a positive test experience for now while
also ensuring long-term readiness for the future.

“I think part of it is trying to meet the needs
that we have now, but also trying to make sure we
have this in place that’s going to be able to support
future needs as well. And this investment from the
referendum is going to give us many years of network
that we can handle the growth now,” said MacDonald.

Testing infrastructure update

On October
17, the Princeton
High School
Orchestra
(PHSO)
collaborated with
the PHS UNICEF
community
service club, as
well as Princeton
Middle School,
to host a benefit
concert promoting
the 17 Sustainable
Development Goals that UNICEF has set
to achieve by 2030.

This event occurs every other year; this
year’s edition specifically placed emphasis
on presenting the 17 goals. These goals
include ending poverty, improving global
education, achieving gender equality, and
making clean energy affordable. PHS
UNICEF leaders and officers discussed
these goals while the orchestra played
music in-between
presentations.

“[We combined]
artistry with
mission … [to
support children]
artistically from
where we are in
Princeton,” said
PHSO conductor
and UNICEF club
advisor Robert
Loughran.

While in previous
years the concert featured PHSO alumni,
this year, only current orchestra members
participated. Loughran described this
experience, noting that the soloists were
all student performers.

“We have a really talented piano section
in the orchestra … [that performed] solo
repertoire that [coincided] with what
[was] presented on stage by the officers,”
said Loughran.

During the concert, all members of
the PHS orchestra program — as well as
some Princeton Middle School orchestra
members — had the opportunity to
perform.

As the event was open to the community
at a low cost of attendance, it reached
a wide range
of community
members.
Moreover, the
performers had
the opportunity
to expand
their musical
talents while
simultaneously
learning more
about global
issues. PHSO
violinist Elif
Cam ’26
describes her
connection to
these goals as a musician after studying
UNICEF’s mission.

“I personally donate to UNICEF,
and I have researched the Sustainable
Development Goals a lot, so for me, it
[was] truly really special to have a concert
in honor of [this cause],” said Cam.

 PHS UNICEF
leader Ava Tabeart
’25 shared her
hopes to inspire
other high school
students.

“Community
service shouldn’t
be  thought of
as a graduation
requirement … it’s
really something
that [we hope
students will]
embrace and try
to make the most
of,” said Tabeart.

PHS Orchestra and PHS Unicef co-host a benefit concert

Art is a reflection of the times, constantly
evolving alongside modern technology.
Today, we find ourselves in the middle of
yet another major transformation with the
rise of digital art, which uses technology to
give artists more tools and opportunities to
take their artwork to the next level.

Over the past few decades, the popularity
of digital art has skyrocketed due to the
advancement of technology and the
increasing popularity of social media.
This growth has allowed artists including
cheriise.art and haranikala to promote
digital art by creating posts on apps like
TikTok and Instagram. Furthermore, digital
art has become a popular medium for artists
thanks to its portability. Unlike traditional
art, such as painting, which requires
numerous supplies, including paint, paint
brushes, a water cup, and a pencil, digital
art only uses two instruments: a device and
a stylus. Digital art softwares also offer
customizable settings
that allow users to easily
adjust their brush size,
brush type, opacity, and
canvas size with just the
tap of a button.

While digital art is
gradually changing the
creative world with its
flexibility, traditional
art remains a vital pillar
to the foundations of
art. Traditional art
forms, such as sculpture, print-making,
and painting embody techniques and
a historical significance that will last
throughout human history. Art movements
such as the Renaissance, Impressionism,
and Cubism are all tied to centuries
of culture and societal
reform. Traditional
artworks from different
artistic movements
remain a way for people
to admire, study, and
understand the past.

Digital art and
traditional art, just
like how one might
compare handwritten
letters to emails, are
two unique ways to
express oneselves — neither can replace
the other. Both may communicate the same
message, but the experience and creation
processes for each are vastly different. While
traditional art may hold the weight of art
history and craftsmanship, digital art has
opened artistic creation to new realms once
thought unimaginable. The efficiency and
mobility of digital art is often disregarded
with a lack of time, effort, and heart. But
in reality, digital art is just a different form
of creative expression.

Art is never a competition between
different styles and media. Every new art
form draws inspiration from previous
styles, such as how digital brushstrokes are
made to mimic traditional paint brushes,
and how the emphasis in contrast and
shadow in digital photography art is a model
of traditional still lives. Despite the rapid
growth of new art styles and movements,
art cannot be replaced, only transformed.

The rising popularity of digital art

To most, Homecoming is a sports game with the bonus
of a dance. To me, Homecoming was a dance with the
bonus of a sports game. I’d never seen a football game
before. All I knew was that PHS was unusually terrible at
it (based on past years’ statistics) and that the announcer
was so loud I could hear him speaking from my backyard.

But this year, I wanted to go and have that typical
American high school experience. I had accidentally
bought two tickets to the game, so I dragged my
mom along with me. When we arrived at the field
fifteen minutes late, everything was already in
chaos: the cheerleaders were shaking their pompoms, spectators were sitting everywhere they
possibly could, and someone scored a touchdown?

I think that first touchdown made it quite
clear to me how little I knew about football. In
fact, about two hours of my viewing were spent
just trying to figure out what I was watching.

When I finally understood, it was hard not to get
sucked into the game. With every touchdown, the
audience stomped; I stomped too. With every musical
interlude, my heart beat a little faster. The constant
stopping and starting barely even bothered me anymore.

At halftime, when the players left the field, I started to
see things clearly again. How did I get so caught up in
the game? How did years of disinterest vanish so quickly?

A little thought and I realized: it was all a show. The
music, the roars, the crowd, the cheerleaders, the blinding
lights. The commentators, the subtle digs at the other
team, the row of substitute players that blocked our vision.
It was like sitting in a theater box, watching something
beautiful but mostly unreal. The atmosphere was what
made the game; the game could not possibly stand alone.

And then I had some questions. Why football? Where is
this excitement for other school sports? Why isn’t there a
Homecoming for any girls’ team? Why is girls’ role during
the biggest game of the school year to be cheerleaders
wearing players’ names? Is this tradition worth it?

Then the lights turned back on, the music started
to play, and those thoughts were pounded out of my
head as if by a hammer. The fanfare was a cover, a
distraction. It was hard to think but easy to cheer.

That isn’t to say that I didn’t have fun. I’m glad PHS
won, and I now have a genuine interest in football. I had
a great night at Homecoming. But how much of it was
the game, and how much was the crazy show of it all? 

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