The PHS Numina Gallery celebrated Hispanic Heritage
Month between October 9 and 17 with an exhibition
that showcased a diverse display of Hispanic cultures.
The exhibition featured many artifacts from different
Spanish-speaking regions, including Central America,
South America, and the Caribbean.

Hispanic Heritage Month is a national celebration
observed from September 15 to October 15 to celebrate
the diverse contributions of Hispanic-American citizens
to the United States.

“[The Numina Gallery exhibit] provides a vital platform
for Latino students to express their voices and pride in their
culture,” said Martha Hayden, a Spanish teacher at PHS.

In addition to displaying student’s culture, the event
also brings together people from across the community.

“[In the other months] we usually do art showcases …
this exhibition, [however], is a more [broad] and cultural
exhibition, which makes it special because we are not
showcasing specific artworks of art students … [instead]
we are bringing in projects and cultures from Spanish
students and from different clubs,” said Cindy Zhou ’25,
co-president of the Numina Gallery.

The centerpiece of the exhibition, the Día de los Muertos
(Day of the Dead) ofrenda, displayed traditional offerings
given during a reunion with the dead, such as candles,
flowers, and photos of deceased loved ones. The exhibition
also presented poems related to immigration, traditional
clothing from several regions, and güiro frog instruments.
Camila Del Castillo, a Spanish teacher at PHS and the
main organizer of the Numina exhibit, was pleased to see
the reactions of parents and students on the opening night
of the exhibition.

“The Hispanic kids that came and saw things from
their country loved it. They saw the altar or the Día de los
Muertos ofrenda, and they connected with things they
have learned,” said Del Castillo. “People visiting and being
happy to be there [is] when I feel the proudest.”

The preparation process lasted two weeks and involved
the collaboration of many different people, including
students, teachers, and even supervisors.
Spanish teachers and students did most of the work,
while Numina Gallery members mostly assisted in putting
up pieces, podiums, and lighting.

“The Spanish classes would come and help, and during
our free time we would listen to their ideas and help
incorporate our knowledge about the gallery to help with
the setup,” said Zhou.

The Latinos Unidos club was a significant part of the
exhibition, sharing Hispanic traditions through music and
visuals. Brian Donis ’25, the club’s vice president, helped
plan and set up the event, along with other students.

“The students helped us carry out the projects and events,
but all in all, there is no difference from being a student
leader and being a student in the club [because] we all
came together as one community,” said Donis.

Students and teachers each had different roles in the
preparations for the exhibit. The Spanish teachers, created
themes such as geographical and cultural regions for each
of their respective classes to focus on. The students then
researched these regions and designed posters to display
on the walls of the gallery.

While preparing the exhibition, students and teachers
faced many challenges, such as planning and coordination.
“Finding the time is the most challenging. It’s hard
because you’re still teaching, [and the Numina exhibit] is
not your only job,” said Del Castillo. “Kids are in school,
so I can’t pull them out of class to [help], and after school
everybody has things to do.”

The preparation process is different every year, as
although the Hispanic Heritage exhibition is designed
to display Hispanic culture, its theme changes from year
to year.

Last year’s focus was more on celebrations, while this
year the exhibition focused on spotlighting specific people
and countries. However, while the focus of the exhibition
changes annually, the goal remains the same: to celebrate
Hispanic Heritage Month and showcase the diverse cultures
spread across Latin America.

“We even [had] the Chinese teacher bringing in her
kids and the Italian teacher bringing her kids and making
comparisons between things that we have, like the fans and
different artifacts,” said Del Castillo. “We compare, but to
highlight our similarities."

The Numina Gallery exhibition showcases Hispanic traditions

   A cappella singing is often considered a whole different genre of music. Through the fusion of different voices, a cappella groups create a unique performance quality and different dimension of music. 
Being in an a cappella group means participants get to be in a chamber performance setting but still have a more flexible time commitment. In addition, unlike choir, many groups arrange and adjust their own vocal parts to fit the singers’ needs. 
At PHS, there are four student-led a cappella groups: Cats Meow, Cloud Nine, Testostertones, and Around 8. They are each unique in their own way, providing completely different experiences, though they sometimes perform together at events like Friday Night Lights at the Princeton Public Library. 
Founded in 1983, Cats Meow is PHS’s first a cappella group; it is a choir affiliated and all upper voice a cappella group. They perform at all PHS choir concerts, and even go on tour with the choir every other year. The group explores many different genres of music, such as jazz, pop and R&B. Through their rehearsals and performances, the group has forged close bonds while creating musical experiences together. 
“You bond very intensely with everyone in the group because it’s so small … we learn to trust each other on stage,” said Cats Meow director Vivian Clayton ’24. 
Cloud Nine is PHS’ second female identifying a cappella group, though they are non-choir affiliated. Regardless, they are still allowed to perform both in and outside of school.
“We performed at Hispanic Heritage Month and we sang Gracias a la Vida … we sometimes do Cornerhouse affiliated [performances],” said Julia Wang ’25, a member of Cloud Nine. 
The third a cappella group is the Testostertones, the only PHS all male group. Rehearsing a few times each week, the members of the a cappella group have grown into a tight-knit community.. 
“Tones culture is at an all time high right now … we have a wide range of guys and I think that that only builds [on] the connection that we have with each other,” said Testostertones director Theo Balavoine ’24. 
Finally, Around 8 is PHS’s only all gender inclusive group––an aspect that distinguishes it from the rest. However, similarly to the other a cappella groups, being part of this ensemble forges friendships and connections among its members. 
“It’s a nice chance to meet people that have different interests from you, but you all can come and sing [together],” said Noa Zacks ’25, a member of Around 8. 
Auditions for these groups are generally held in late May and early June, and are open to all students for non-choir affiliated groups, like Testostertones and Cloud Nine. General audition materials include preparation of a short verse or chorus and sight reading in front of the current a cappella group. 


Finding harmony in PHS a capella groups

The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is opening doors to higher education for PHS students through its new dual enrollment program, an initiative aimed at elevating learning while promoting equity among students and giving them a head start in their collegiate journey. 
“We know we have very high quality teachers, we know we have programs that are very, very competitive, even against college level programs,” said PHS Principal Cecilia Birge. “So we think that our students deserve having [the] recognition of taking [a college level program], and not to mention the financial benefits that your enrollment brings along.”
Birge also highlighted the program’s founding principles: a commitment to academic excellence, equity, and financial accessibility. In order to maximize student learning time to uphold educational quality, one distinctive feature that sets this program apart from PHS’s other partnerships, such as those with Mercer County Technical Schools, is its full integration within the PHS campus. Unlike traditional dual enrollment programs, which often require students to leave campus, this program will be entirely housed at PHS, ensuring that students can engage in college-level coursework without compromising their high school experience.
“We really wanted our students to have the full blown PHS experience, not a partial one here and the partial one at another school,” said Birge. “We also want our partners in the dual enrollment program to be really the top notch kind of partners who can bring innovative ideas who share our educational philosophy, [and] so, that’s how we [identified] TCNJ as a partner.”
Students signing up for the dual enrollment program will receive essential information in September, including their TCNJ email address and portal details. Upon completion of the course with a grade of a C or higher, students will receive credits from PHS, three TCNJ credits, equivalent to a full college course, and the TCNJ transcript. To participate, students need to pay a fee of $550 before the start of the program. However, the program provides substantial cost savings for families. 
“As you may or may not know, college-level courses cost about $3,000. So $550 is a significant saving for most of our families at PHS. [Additionally], families will have 529 plans, which is a college savings and investment plan that they can use the money from to pay for this course too,” Birge said. 
In order to facilitate a smooth transition into the two schools’ partnership, PHS will only offer Sociology for the first year of the program alongside the already existing Sociology Accelerated course at PHS. The course will be taught by Elizabeth Taylor, a history teacher at PHS currently teaching AP U.S. History and the present high school-level Sociology Accelerated course.
“The Sociology course actually started out as an AP pilot program. The College Board was considering an AP Sociology course, and Princeton was one of the schools that piloted it, so the class had already been designed as a college level course,” Taylor said. 
However, even after the College Board ultimately made the decision to not include AP Sociology in its course catalog, PHS continued teaching sociology following the same college level curriculum. 
“It always [disappointed me] that students were doing essentially a college level class but not getting the credit they would through an AP class. So as I thought about other schools offering dual enrollment, it seemed perfect for [this course]. Students do the same work they’re doing now, but get college credit at the end, [which] seemed like a perfect fit,” Taylor said. 
When deciding whether the program will be held entirely at PHS, one of the most common considerations is if TCNJ professors will be brought in, or if the courses will be taught by PHS teachers. Birge provides insight into this aspect of the program’s structure, highlighting the importance of the teacher’s role in the process. 
“[This] program is very much a teacher dependent program, meaning that Mrs. Taylor was actually approved by TCNJ to be a qualified instructor to teach at a college level course,” Birge said. 
Students signing up for next year’s courses will have the option between enrolling in a regular Accelerated Sociology class, or enrolling in TCNJ-Sociology as a part of the dual enrollment program. 
“Both sets of students will be placed in the same classroom [during the same period]. Mrs. Taylor would differentiate her teaching so that students who are in the dual enrollment program will receive a bit more instruction, probably have some more teaching, reading, and assignments to be completed to ensure that they meet the criteria at the TCNJ level,” Birge said. 
Additionally, students enrolled in the sociology class will benefit from gaining college credits, providing them with an upper hand when they go to college, given their previous experiences in college style courses. 
“I [had] multiple students who [decided] to pursue sociology in college as undergraduates, and they [had] to start back at Sociology 1 because they [did] not have any credit for it,” said Taylor. “So now, hopefully, most of these students will be able to skip Sociology in college and move on to a more advanced level class.”

PHS and TCNJ collaborate in creating dual enrollment program

In February, PHS science teachers Jacqueline Katz and Jennifer Smolyn published an article in The Science Teacher, a prestigious peer-reviewed journal of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA). Within the publication, they outline a novel approach to developing scientific literacy and critical thinking skills in the high school setting, specifically describing a lesson utilized within PHS’s Research Program.
“Essentially, we’re trying to get students to think and act like scientists in the field,” said Katz. “We’re trying to build those thought practices in our students and give them chances to employ those skills.”
To achieve this, Katz and Smolyn emphasize the value of challenging students to read full scientific journal articles and engage in peer mentoring, expectations that are not common in typical high school science classes. Additionally, the lesson seeks to improve certain underlying skills: students’ abilities to extract main ideas from primary source literature, support claims with data, analyze bias, and communicate information clearly. 
“These [skills] are everyday practices in the world of science. But sometimes, they get overlooked as a key focus in the science classroom because we’re worrying about learn[ing] content [rather than developing] the skills that were needed to discover that content,” Katz said. 
Inspired by their own graduate research experiences, Katz and Smolyn introduced the lesson seeking to emulate the research process of scientists. Thus, the lesson will teach students how to better understand and extract information from research articles so that they can form more insightful and complex questions and conclusions that they can then incorporate into their own research projects.
Although the lesson outlined in the article is only taught within the research program, the science teachers stress that these practices are universally applicable to all students, including those in traditional classes.
“Those are skills that translate no matter what field you go into. You will still need to assess information that you [are] exposed to and make decisions about your health, about the climate, or about anything,” said Smolyn. “Even if you’re not a scientist, you can still utilize these skills to help you make decisions for your own life in the future.”
As such, the teachers are integrating some elements of the lesson into regular science classes, namely biology, to ensure students outside of the research program also have exposure to the fundamental skills of scientific literacy.
“With each unit, [instead of] providing students with complete research papers, we take some of the information from journal entries just to give them some initial exposure to how science is communicated when it’s not coming at [them] in a TikTok video or a news blurb,” said Smolyn. “We spend four weeks reading these papers in the research program and in an ideal world, we would love to do it in all our classes.”

The Tower

Maiya Qiu's Work

The Tower