FILMED BY FALYN KELLEY & ANA PIROSCA. EDITED BY ANA PIROSCA.

Check out the article about DWTT written by Falyn Kelley and Ana Pirosca here!

Junior Tiffany Tortora hitting the ball and scoring a point against Lawrence. Photo submitted by Daisy Depina.

Although the season comes to an end, the team has tried their very best during all their games.

Senior Sarah Beaton, who was one of the three captains says the ending record for the season, was not what the team had hoped for. “[They] honestly enjoyed all that [they] could out of it while also creating such a great bond with one another. So in the end, the scores didn’t really ruin how [their] season went,” Beaton states.

She says that becoming captain was one of her greatest accomplishments in high school that she has worked really hard for. “It also has inspired [her] to one day coach a high school volleyball team.”

Beaton also says that some of the challenges that the team faced was not giving up or getting their hopes down. “[They] reminded [themselves] that it doesn’t hurt [them] as players as long as [they] continued to try [their] hardest.”

Now that the season has came to an end, Beaton says that one thing she wishes she would have done differently is enjoy every moment on the court despite of the outcome of it.

She mentions how she feels proud of all that has been done this season. “As a senior, it was the best thing [she has] spent four years doing despite the outcomes.” She says that playing volleyball was one of the greatest and most memorable things that she could have done.

Beaton says how although it was difficult winning games, she just took everything she knew about volleyball into consideration and tried her hardest for every game while still remembering how much fun she and her team has while playing.

Senior Grace Melo, who is also one of the three captains says that being a captain was a lot of responsibility, “[she] had to always maintain a level ahead and keep everyone working well together and feel comfortable to enjoy playing.” She says that this season really tested the team, “even though the outcome was not what [they] had hoped for, none of [them] gave up and so [she thinks] that was an important lesson to learn.”

Senior Reanna Pinheiro getting ready to serve. Photo submitted by Daisy Depina.

Melo says that the biggest challenge the team has faced was the attitudes and mindsets. Melo states that, “[they] had a few really uplifting talks in which just [they] would share [their] thoughts and together fix the issues [they] had. By the end [they] fully supported one another and built trust.”

Melo also says, that this season, she gave her very best and has no regrets, “[she feels] like [she] put in [her] best effort every game and practice and also supported [her] team members throughout.” Melo also mentions how she will miss volleyball although the season could have been better, “[she] couldn’t wish for a better team to go through this experience with.”

The last of the captains is Junior Tiffany Tortora, who says it was an honor to be captain, but required a lot of responsibility. Tortora states that “[she feels that she has] become a much better person and role model to the future Malden High volleyball players.”

Tortora states that, “[they] all put [their] hearts out on the court, but unfortunately [their] record didn’t reflect that.” She says although the team lacked communication on the court along with a strong bond, towards the end of the season, the team began to play not for themselves but for the seniors and their last year playing.

Tortora’s advice for others is that “even there may be challenges, keep pushing yourself because you will get through it.”

MHS is proud of its girls and wishes the team all the best in future seasons.

After a long season the girls field hockey team end the season with 1 win and 17 losses. The team has created an unbreakable bond with one another. Although the team did not make it into nationals, this was one of their best seasons yet. The team has become like a family, they’re determination and endless days of practice they won their first game in 2 years against Lowell.       

Senior and Captain of this year’s field hockey team, Erin Mulcahy had said “This season was one of my favorites. The amazing will, determination, and spirit of all players on the team made this season amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a better senior year. Although we lost, we won in so many ways. We become a family and it showed throughout communication and bonding. Our win was insane, we worked so hard and we put all that effort into that game.”

This has been a long and difficult season. For the following years of field hockey, another senior team captain Caitlyn Leonard gave some advice, “For those returning and new that are going to be playing field hockey next year I believe that they should never stop working hard. Even in the off season. Whether that’s going to camps or just getting together with other teammates to play. If you warm up before the season, that will only lead to a more successful outcome. I advise them to keep their heads up no matter what and to always support each other. I also hope they stay like a family and grow even closer to new and older players. Having great relationships with teammates will lead to a better season and will make connections that will last even after the season is over.”  

Although the team had not made as many wins as losses they have gained much more than that. The last out of the three captains, Julia Cocuzzo, had said “For this season, I have to say that I’m very proud of the field hockey team and what we have achieved. Unfortunately don’t have as many wins to prove the hard work but, we all know we did achieve great success. We struggled in the beginning due to the loss of the entire varsity team last year…however, I must say this team had the best communication in all my four years.” Some advice that she had suggested for new and returning members next year was, “For next year’s members I would advise the players to make sure they continue playing during the off season. I also highly advise them to stress communicate among each other. The team achieved and improved so much this year, I would hate for them to have to start fresh next season.”

With all the support given from family, friends, and coaches, the team has improved no doubt. Spending hours practicing, and learning many new strategies their hard work has paid off. Having this year been so successful , next year’s season would be even better and the team  even stronger.

As the fall sports come to close, the Malden High School boys soccer team has finally come to close with the record of 7-9-3. The team is lead by junior captain Patrick Pereira. The team has participated very actively in every game. The season was inaugurated with the game against East Boston.

Senior Hamza Rizvanecevic running after the ball. Photo taken by Abhishek Rana.

The team is coached by MHS English teacher Jeremiah Smith. This is the seventeenth year of coaching for Smith in his high school coaching career.

This year’s team had a bunch of the new, young players. Smith mentioned that one of the challenges for this season was “integrating so many new players into the team.”

Senior Germano Fidelis stated how “it [was] challenging playing for the first time on the varsity team.”

The new players feel proud to be on varsity team. Junior Eric Toh stated that it feels good to be part of the varsity team, since “[he felt] like [he was] playing with lot more purpose than when [he was] just [on the] JV or freshmen [team].”

Sophomore Douglas Oliveira Do Nascimento running after the ball. Photo taken by Abhishek Rana.

Although the players have a hard time balancing school and game, they explain that it helps to relieve a lot of stress.

Despite the hard work and dedication, the MHS soccer team was not able to beat Everett in both their confrontations, but they were able to defeat their greatest rival, Medford, with a score of score of 4-3 at their home conference game. Though, the second time around the Golden Tornadoes lost the away game against the Mustangs with a score of 1-0.

As a result they could not make it to the state tournament this year, but look forward to trying to go back to states next season.

On November 4th, the library hosted a young adult arts and crafts event. This event focused on perler art. Perler art is created by putting perler beads on plastic pegboards in an arranged pattern and then fusing them together using a clothing iron.

Patrick Brennan, the information librarian, ran this event. Brennan is always the host of these events because apart from being the information librarian he is also the young adult programmer so he has to coordinate these events.

Materials set out for the event. Photo by Ailin Toro.

When asked why the library decided to have this event he said that the library always does “a bunch of arts and crafts events  with different focuses each time.” Some of the past event have been on making jewelry, origami. Brennan adds that this one was chosen because people can use it as a “creative outlet where you can make anything and it doesn’t even take long.” He also mentions that after spending the amount on the original materials, you have enough for many events focused just on this.

Brennan mentions that this same event over the summer had a high turnout and there were requests for him to have another one. Despite this there was a low turnout at the library but Brennan acknowledges that it could be due to the bad weather.

If you are interested in going to any upcoming events at the library you can go here to find out when they are.

President Donald Trump and former candidate Hillary Clinton. Image courtesy of WikiMedia.

The 2016 election has been an unforgettable one.

I would not accredit that to the remarkability of each candidate, their visionary goals to mobilize the country, nor their truly promising social, political and economic policies that will surge the U.S. further as that is the demand of the people. Rather, the most heated topics of this election is Donald Trump’s 12th cases of accused sexual assault and Hillary Clinton’s email controversy. The real issues that the people of this country face are blurred by, frankly, childish banter between Trump and Clinton at the debates and attempts from politicians and journalists and average citizens alike to prove that Donald Trump is a poor leader.

Many can agree that they are baffled by what this election has turned out to be, but I am primarily baffled by the fact that Donald Trump ever achieved any credible position in this campaign from the start. Although by the time that this article will be published the 2016 election would have come to end (and hopefully the idiotic shenanigans that came with it), all of the abhorrent remarks that left Donald Trump’s mouth will continue to haunt me and this nation, as it poses a reminder that racism, misogyny and bigotry are alive and well throughout this country.

Trump’s incompetence has been evident throughout the entire campaign from his constantly changing political stances to his calling Cara Fiorina ugly (which was not funny whatsoever, sorry misogynists). Some may argue that Trump’s “candidness” is an asset rather than a sign of fault in his character, suggesting he is a candidate that will not lie to you. This quality was also applied to former democratic candidate Bernie Sanders, but he did not have to degrade women and blame Hillary Clinton for the formation ISIS to get credit for speaking his mind. Trump has not shown any sign of integrity; he solely promises he has it while endeavoring to belittle every person that challenges his rhetoric and qualifications.

In addition to that, he consistently flip flops between social, political and economic stances and denies 100% of the allegations against him – even those with solid proof. Trump’s conflicting views are hardly even appalling in comparison to his comments about women. Let’s not even discuss his bragging off assaulting women and writing it off as “locker room talk,” which in itself is misogynistic as it boosts rape culture. Is it a requirement to call women fat for a politician to assert their candor? This was simply a conjured up excuse for Trump’s ignorant chauvinism, which he seemingly wears proudly on his sleeve.  

Despite the myriad antics and immaturity Trump has displayed, he still has fervent supporters.

A lot of people are roused by his economic plans which are pitched to those who have lost hope in the “American dream,” but the dream Trump has outlined is hardly geared to those who are part of the “inner city”, those who are “bad hombres”, or those who are “radical islamic terrorists.” These are the titles he has given to people of color who he sees as threats to charity cases, from when he stated that “a lot of” the 1.6 billion Muslims around the world have a vendetta against the United States and that black voters have nothing to lose in voting for him as he said that black people were “all living in poverty, [their] schools are no good and [they] have no good jobs.” These generalizations are as condescending as they are detrimental as it serves to propagandize rather than educate and blames sizable populations of people for stereotypes that wrongly associated with each individual. Next to his frequent bigoted comments, Trump is also notoriously celebrated by fellow white supremacists, including former KKK leader David Duke (who Trump elusively and slowly disavowed) and Rocky Sudhaya, who is currently the chairman of the American Nazi Party. This is no anomaly or peculiar coincidence; Trump’s convictions must align with those of supremacists otherwise they would have no reason to ungrudgingly endorse him. Although he has voters who are people of color, who are women, who are LGBTQ+, that does not mean that Trump’s outlook does not favor the dominance of white people. Much of his views are nationalist and nativist, which facts that are only denied by those who share the same discriminatory vision.

It seems that his stances on immigration in particular are the most controversial and most popular among his supporters. Although his opinions on such topics seem to always be wavering, his current standpoint on immigrants has remained consistent — highly arbitrary and are fundamentally suppressive toward millions of current and future American citizens. No one can try to deny that Trump is extremely anti-semitic and islamophobic, regardless of how much leverage Trump has over his supporters. There are several policies that highlight his plans of persecution, from his idea to raid mosques to seek extremists (with the aid of racial profiling) and his ban of all Muslim immigrants who want to enter the country, whether they are refugees or not. Trump’s racial profiling sadly does not stop there as he has referred to Mexican immigrants as well as other Latin Americans as “criminals”, “rapists” and “drug traffickers.” I can not even begin to express how saddening it is to me that the current GOP leader has publicly made these comments to the American public, truly believing in the fabrications he incessantly spews and that these words render no consequence. This is not a matter of disagreeing with the beliefs of different political party than my own. To me, jabs at Trump are no longer political discourse as even members of the party Trump leads have expressed disdain and condemnation toward his behavior. It seems that those who are truly against prejudice and oppression rally against Trump, whether you are conservative or liberal.

I was never a Clinton supporter myself and was only by urgency, not choice. Trump is trying to portray her as the scapegoat of all of the country’s problems while arguably most of the inequality and inequity in our country are perpetuated by people like Trump. Some examples can be found in his stance against black issues. At the debate, when asked about his views on the Black Lives Matter movement and combating police brutality toward black people in particular, his answer was strengthening the country’s “law and order” which roughly translates to a continuation of racial profiling and unlawful treatment of citizens by police. Enforcement of stricter law and order is hardly necessary in the first place and is not the root of the issue of U.S. crime, but that is a separate topic that I will not digress on. Trump’s approval of bringing back stop and frisk, which has historically been ineffective and has even been ruled unconstitutional, is another harrowing example of his irrational prejudice toward “inner city people.” Yes, I quoted him on that again because it was such an insensitive statement.

Trump’s running mate, Michael Pence, is also a major perpetrator of the social discrimination in this country. His anti-LGBTQ+ stances are absolutely vile as he supported an amendment that banned same sex marriage and would rather spend government money on conversion therapy (which is known to be extremely traumatic as it is fruitless) than HIV prevention. Pence’s homophobia also reflects that the Trump campaign will not only support the civil rights of citizens of color and women, but LGBTQ+ citizens as well.

My opinion on Donald Trump has been made pretty clear. I don’t like him. As an activist, as a person of color, as a human being, I could never like a man like Trump. When this election is long gone, I will still remember that people favored someone whose social, political and economic views were doused in bigotry, xenophobia, sexism, and utter stupidity. I will remember his deplorable ideas and comments toward people like me and people I know. Much of this country’s cultural achievements and assets were born of our diversity, and without it this country would lose its vibrancy.

Our country was founded on profound principles that promote liberty and justice for all. We can work toward the greatness that visionaries have been dreaming of, advocating for and even dying for throughout centuries. Promotion of Trump and those like him will reverse the progress we have worked so hard to create in this nation and strip opportunities from citizens that have fought for them.

The United States will be great when we all matter, when we are all represented and when we are all truly equal. It is vital to focus on the future, but we can not forget the mistakes of the past so they are not repeated.

That’s why we can’t forget Trump, and we certainly can never forgive him.

The meeting with Dr. Charles Grandson took place on Tuesday, November 2nd in the Malden High School library.

About 15-20 people attended which included house principals, superintendents and teachers. Everyone introduced themselves and that’s when Charles Grandson took over and went right into discussion, where he began to say a list of things that he wished to discuss because he has realized problems going on in the community.

The importance of this meeting was for the benefit of knowing what they needed to work on as far as helping our students.

Google Classroom has provided much help for both students and teachers. Students and teachers rely on it for many things and is just very useful. Teachers use it for video presentations, do nows, classwork, homework etc. and being able to do that makes life so much easier. Joseph Luongo, one of MHS’ art teachers says “[they’re] very dedicated” and Grandson says that “it offers a lot of support for the students.”

An ongoing problem, not only in our community but worldwide, is the diversity in teachers. MHS is one of the most diverse school in the state and with that, should come a greater diversity in staff members. Though the teacher diversity has increased, it can still definitely be improved.

MHS believes this is important because they don’t only want to learn that their students are bilingual, but then not have the option to increase their education in that specific language because their isn’t a class for it.

It’s also important for the students and a good feeling to have when you’re able to connect with a teacher and learn more about them so that you may bond over a common interest.

Class sizes has been another problem mainly because everyone is eager to learn either a new language or inheriting their families language and it has brought a decrease in other classes like ones in business. The business and english classes have about 10 students or less while classes like French I and II are booming with 30 or more students. Small schools have the problem with not maintaining enough electives or not enough language classes. Having so many children engaged with different languages is essential for getting them into an academic level.

MHS Holland House principal Marilyn Slattery says how “it’s a great problem to have, but it’s a problem.” Teachers would like students to go from ninth grade until they graduate with not only a diploma to say you’ve graduated, but to illustrate what you have learned and progressed in something specific for later in their careers. Teachers are also working hard to make sure they’re getting to every students needs in order to be more successful in the near future. Grandson says, “[they] need to meet the needs of all learners.”

Not every student needs to go to college, but should always have the option and provide action. Parents starting to talk to their children about college in the ninth grade and schools taking students on field trips to look at different colleges are just a few great ways to appeal to students to learn more about the college process.

Many students don’t know why they go to college. They know ‘to go’ but they don’t know why or where to go in the future. Forty percent of people drop out and fifty percent graduate in 5 years now.

As interim Superintendent, Grandson hopes for the best for the students in the Malden public schools system.

Artwork shown at the gallery. Photo taken by Christina Appignani.

On Saturday November 5th, Malden Creates hosted an art exhibition at Malden High School in the Jenkins Auditorium called “Pictures At An Exhibition: A Tribute to Friendships.”

The event was apart of a community project celebrating the connections between the arts and the power of friendship. The original idea for the event came from the story of composer Modest Mussorgsky and a fellow artist. 39 works of art were displayed that were created by local artists.

Dalia Zeabi and Lambert Rahming, a community minister, opened up the event. Rahming explains that “[Malden Creates] is a group of eclectic people who really believe that art is convenient for engaging and inspiring people around Malden.” Zeabi expressed that, “[she] hoped that the audience felt the heart of why art, in a gathering like this, connects with music.” She also expressed her gratitude towards many local businesses that have helped enrich the events and have made them more affordable by their generous contributions to Malden Reads.

Artwork shown at the gallery. Photo taken by Christina Appignani.

After Zeabi and Rahming’s introduction, Malden playwright Brian Triber and MATV Outreach Coordinator Guillermo Hamlin recited letters by Mussorgsky to the audience.  Then, pianist Yelena Beriyeva performed a piece called “Pictures at an Exhibition” by Mussorgsky. Rahming explained that “[the piano piece] is like a gift. There are different movements in the piece and it’s kind of like putting the wrapping on a gift, but it’s not really wrapped until the bow is tied. In other words, the piece is not complete without the audience’s full attention and no intermissions.”

Zeabi explains that the event came about because of two people in Malden had an idea many years ago. She describes “one of the people, Ose Schwab, took action on her long-standing desire to perform pictures. [Schwab]  and [Beriyeva] invited other artists to hear music that was performed visually, and other artists received it very well.” The event was the result of action to create the full expression of creativity.

Artwork shown at the gallery. Photo taken by Christina Appignani.

After Beriyeva’s performance, the audience was taken outside of the Jenkins Auditorium, where several pieces of art were on display. The art had a wide range of artists; from professional artists to high school students. Many of the artists are from Massachusetts and were deeply committed to creating the work.

Artist Susan Langan from Georgetown had two works displayed at the event: Foret Sentinels and Vigil. She explains that “[she] chose the symbol of the unhatched egg because it represents possibility. [The egg] protects the mysterious ballet of a developing life.”

Sara Gravante from Melrose, who had three pieces displayed, said that, “[her] work is inspired by colors, shaped, moments and transitions in nature. The process of painting is one of investigation and seeking the truth inherent in each piece.” Marina Strauss from Arlington, who was the artist of  The Color of Friendship, says that “[she] is inspired by nature and the exploratory aspect of creativity. [Her] work is about how people are part of nature, how the natural world  teaches us about life, and about change and acceptance.”

All of the artwork displayed at this event will be also be displayed at the MATV art gallery from November 9th thru January 12th. People can still create tributes to friends and submit them to maldencreates.com.

The season has ended for the fall sports, including the golf season. “It was a rewarding and growing season, with maturation occurring both personally and golf skills-wise for all of our student athletes,” explains coach Richard Malatesta.

Throughout the season, there had been many obstacles and setbacks for the team. The overwhelming amount of new members proved to be quite problematic for the captain and the coach. For the first few weeks, many members struggled with the sport as this is their first hand experience with this. However, after many practices and face-off with other local teams, the Malden High golf team has “improved substantially [as a whole],” says Malatesta.

This year has been a fun ride for the golf members. Besides from being better players on the course, the members also became better teammates as well.  According to the members, they have a lot of fun together and that the season, overall, was “alright” explains freshman Simon Daponta. As for the coach, he enjoyed seeing the players’ “enthusiasm for golf, their dedication and commitment to improving.” For him, “to see the student-athletes putting into practice what they learned was very rewarding for both them and [himself].”

Despite the difficulties at the beginning, the players did not give in the obstacles they faced as new members of the team. And so, through their hard work and passion for the sport, the players Malatesta says,“made tremendous progress, both individually and collectively.” It was understandable that for a team full of new players, setbacks and delays are inevitable. By the end of the season, their greatest achievement was when the team got “better score than Everett in the second MVC tournament,” says Malatesta.

“Golf is in many ways a metaphor for life. There are successes and setbacks, ups and downs, good breaks and bad breaks and hard work always pays off in personal growth and oftentimes success,” explains Malatesta, “it teaches you that things don’t always go your way and it is the process that is what is most important, not the numerical score.”

The post Golf: End of Season Update appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

 

“I’ve been playing sports all my life and have always found comfort in them. I feel that sports have 100% shaped my life. I feel my love for sports really started when I started playing football because football is a sport I can play well at my size. I’ve been cut from basketball teams because of my size but football is the one sport that really embraced my size and my whole goal in life is to go play football at the professional level.” #humansofmaldenhigh

A photo posted by Humans of Malden High School (@_humansofmhs) on Nov 14, 2016 at 6:08am PST

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Sophomore Ameen Anwar will soon be embarking on his first States meet as a member of the cross country team. Anwar is among the team’s top five runners which means that he is one of the fastest runners on the cross country team in the entire state division. He is excited to compete against other so-called legendary runners that he has heard of but has yet to race against.

He also says that in an event such as this, a lot is expected of him. The Coaches Invitational, more commonly referred to as States, is very different from the typical cross country meet. It is a qualifying meet that brings together the fastest runners in the state and puts them into one competition.

He describes that he became interested in long-distance running on whim. One day he starting running with a friend and his passion flourished from there. Conversely, Anwar admits that when he initially joined the cross country team he did not expect to “like all that running” but eventually his attitude toward the sport changed. He now admits that it is “so much fun” and describes his experience on the team as “amazing.”

Ameen Anwar, far left, with his fellow teammates and coach David Londino. Photo submitted by Ameen Anwar.

Anwar also reveals that cross country is “not as lonely as most people think”. He explains how cross country is a difficult sport to attract members to as the team members could not just “run laps in front of” aspiring team members.

Personally, he believes that  a specific aspect that may draw people to the team is “just seeing how much fun [they] [have]” which extends beyond running. Anwar says that “[they] don’t just run miles”, they “do stuff together” and “have fun together.” This prevailing sense of camaraderie is a running theme throughout those interviewed on the boys cross country team.

This will be Anwar’s debut as an athlete who qualifies for States. He describes this occasion as “the big meet”, an event many runners “look up to”. But in joining the cross country team he says he has “learned to take pressure of [himself].” He has become accustom to the spotlight that being a runner brings in invitational meets such as States. He is mainly excited to compete against his fellow competitors that will be meeting during this particular competition.

Of course, holding such high rank on a sport as arduous as cross country can be intimidating. Anwar admits that cross country Coach David Londino does “expect [him] to score,” but overall, he does not apply an unbearable amount of pressure to him and his teammates. He describes his role on the team as “just to run as fast as [he] can” and “hopefully outrun [the other team’s] fastest runners.”

The post Cross Country Profile: Ameen Anwar appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

On Friday, November the 4th, the Malden High School Golden Tornadoes hosted the Newton South Lions at MacDonald Stadium, for their ninth game of the season.

Junior Isaiah Likely catching the ball. Photo by Abhishek Rana.

The game was the second of a three game home stretch to close out the season. Malden entered the game with a record of 3-5, having just snapped their two game losing streak the week before. The Lions on the other hard entered the game with a record of 1-7, having not won a game since September 24th.

Due to their records, Malden was expected to win the game, and the Tornadoes did not disappoint. Justifying their “favourites label”, the Golden Tornadoes defeated the Lions in dominating fashion, with the score of 42-20.

The Tornadoes offence started the game red hot, scoring on their first two drives of the game. After Malden’s defense was able to force Newton South to punt on the first possession of the game, Malden’s offence was able to capitalize. From just their second play from scrimmage in the game, junior and captain, quarterback Jared Martino scored a 90 yard rushing touchdown, giving Malden a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.

The defense stepped up again for the Tornadoes, forcing a fourth and inches at the Lion 48 yard line. However, this time Newton south decided to go for it on fourth down. Their attempted quarterback sneak was stuffed ashy of the first down by the Tornado defense forcing a turnover on downs. Malden High’s offence took over in great field position at the Lion 48 yard line.

During the drive, Malden faced a 4th down at the Lion 16 yard line, where they too decided to go for it. However, unlike Newton South’s attempt, junior wide receiver Isaiah Likely was able to get in behind the secondary and haul in a 16 yard touchdown pass from Martino. This made the score 14-0 as the first quarter ended.

Malden continued their dominance into the second quarter, scoring two more touchdowns. Late in the quarter, senior and captain, Joshua Simon intercepted the ball from the Lion quarterback and returned it 62 yards for a pick 6. With the defensive touchdown, Malden lead 21-0 with 3:33 left in the second quarter.

On the very next Newton South drive, junior Marlon Cook came away with another interception, this time returning it to the Newton 29 yard line. The Tornado offence once again capitalized from the turnover, with Likely catching another touchdown pass from Martino. The first half ended with Malden comfortably leading 28-0.

Malden offense trying to gain yards. Photo by Abhishek Rana.

The second half started the same way as how the first half ended. On the very first drive of the half, Martino scored another rushing touchdown from the Lion 1 yard line. This extended the Tornado lead to 35-0. This touchdown essentially ended the game early in the third quarter, as the Tornadoes took their feet off the pedal for the rest of the game.

Another rushing td early in the fourth quarter capped off a huge performance from Martino, both on the ground and through the air. While Malden’s conservative defensive approach allowed Newton South to score three touchdowns in the second half, making the score a little less lopsided.

After the game, sophomore Reginald Charles reflected on how it went. When asked about their fast start to the game, Charles mentioned that “[they] played as a team” and “had fun,” which allowed them to “move the ball easier” as an offense.

The game ended with Malden decisively winning 42-20, their largest margin of victory in the season. It also improved Malden’s overall record to 4-5, and their home record to 4-1.

The post Football: Newton South Game Recap appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

Malden High School’s Haitian Club is taking action to help Haiti in response to the recent Hurricane Matthew that caused destruction throughout the country. Paul Degenkolb, the advisor of the club, is collecting donations. He is collecting the donations for the village Matenwa, where Malden High School has a partner school: Matenwa Community Learning Center. Malden High School has raised money and donations for the school in the past, and especially with the recent Hurricane Matthew hitting Haiti, donations now are especially important.

On Saturday, Nov. 5, Degenkolb and the Haitian Club officially raised donations to send to Matenwa, since he visited in 2015, and developed a close relationship with the school. Degenkolb had a direct way to contact the school, making it easier for him to send the donations. School supplies, tarps, first aid kits, and basic toiletries were donated to the cause, and three shipping barrels were filled, and a fourth on its way to being filled.

“The school is the center of the community,” Degenkolb said about the school in Matenwa. Many families’ belongings were damaged in the hurricane, and so school supplies were needed by many families in the community. About 33 families lost their homes in the hurricane, and tarps are necessary to repair the homes. The hurricane made the children in the community miss about a week of school, and because the school is the center of the community, they wanted to get back to school, to get a sense of normalcy. As for the damage directly done to the school, there were few, and they were minor. The building “lost a couple of doors” but the building is still intact. The damage was really done to the families in the community.

The event that took place on Saturday got about 50 people who came to donate items, and it was mostly spread by “word of mouth,” and Degenkolb feels as though Saturday went well.

The donations are very important to the village of Matenwas because there is “a lot of unknown,” since “people don’t know how bad the damage was.” Communication with Haiti was tough after the hurricane, but Degenkolb kept in contact with the school and community through Facebook. Matenwa, Degenkolb notes, was not the work hit area in Haiti, but it is still concerning, since the village is out of most of the radars of the aid organizations.

Degenkolb sees these donations, and this connection to Matenwa CLC as important, as it reflects Malden High School’s global connections. Hurricane Matthew’s effects in Haiti affect Malden High School, since many students’ families are in Haiti, and MHS has a large Haitian population and community.

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The girls cross country team’s season has reached its end, and the team could not be more prouder of themselves. Along with the boys cross country team, they have became the GBL champions, which was a perfect way to end their last season in the Greater Boston League.

According to sophomore Birukti Tsige, there was a feeling of nostalgia in the team, since they were moving to a new league the next season. Tsige added that because of that, everyone fought to win every race they had, and many players had individual personal records. There were some setbacks and challenges, since there were some injuries, and some were even days before races. Nevertheless, the team “managed to pull it together and unite for every since race, and come out as winners,” and as proud Malden High School winners.

Another cross country runner, sophomore Taylor Dill, described her own challenges in the season. As a beginner distance runner, she stated that the beginning of the season was “very challenging for [her].” For the first two weeks, she admitted she felt like quitting. However, she gained a new motivation, “[she] knew quitting was for losers, and [she] wouldn’t get better if [she] quit. So [she] stuck with it.” She had her doubts at first, when coach David Londino said that she could be a varsity cross country runner. She proved herself wrong, saying that she was able to finish each varsity race she was in. Due to an unfortunate injury, she only participated in three races. She holds her head up though, knowing that “[she] was only a beginner distance runner, and [she] had a lot ahead of me to improve.”

The proudest moments for the girls cross country team, was the meet against Medford, and the GBL closing. Tsige said that the team seemed like “it was falling apart, and that the mentality didn’t seem to be great.”  When the girls heard that a couple new runners had arrived in Medford’s team, coach Londino gave “the best pep talk that [she’s] ever heard him give,” Tsige states and every girl on the team “no matter what injury [they] had, ran with everything [they] had.” The girls ended up winning the race. The GBL closing was a proud moment for Dill. The freshmen improved a lot, and the older runners did as well, which contributed to the win. Dill sites juniors Allie Russo, Jasmine Gray, and many other girls on the team as the core to helping the team win. Gray became the first female GBL champion for Malden since 2006, a moment that made the team and coach Londino feel very proud, because they’ve achieved so much as a team from all the hard work they’ve put in.

Both girls applauded coach Londino. “Without Londino,” Dill says, “[she] honestly wouldn’t have become a better runner nor a better person. He believes in [her] and the team, that they can do better. Even though he may be a very tough coach, he’s a genuine person who cares about [her] present and my future as a runner and as a person.”

The team has done a phenomenal job at keeping their championship title. They finished the season strong, and not only as a team, but as a family.

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On November 8, Donald Trump became the President-Elect of the United States. This sparked a nationwide outrage by the ones who were opposed to Trump. Many took to social media, and people also took to the streets to protest. As I sat watching the news, and listening to people talk about their concerns about Trump, I couldn’t help but to wonder why barely anyone was talking about Mike Pence, the Vice President-elect. After asking, I came to the conclusion that people were not informed of Pence’s troubling policies and values

Pence holds similar views to Trump in areas like immigration, foreign policy, climate change, etc. However, unlike Trump, Pence holds a very conservative view on certain topics. These concern me the most, considering that Pence has a long background of being strongly against abortion and LGBT rights.

Pence’s anti LGBT background has been dated back since 2006. In 2006, according to lgbtqnation.com, Pence supported an amendment to ban same sex marriages. He explained the reason why he supported that amendment, saying “societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family.”  He also stated that being gay was simply a choice, and that discrimination towards the LGBT was “God’s plan.”  Pence also opposed a law in 2007, which would have prohibited discrimination towards LGBT employees in the workplace, stating that the law would wage war on religion and freedom in the workplace, according to Time magazine. In 2009, he voted no on enforcing against anti gay hate crimes, according to ontheissues.org.

Vice President, Mike Pence. Photo from Wikimedia.

His most controversial move was in 2000, where he supported taking federal funds that go to HIV resources, and instead use that money for conversion therapy, which is a controversial form of “therapy” that uses practices such as shock treatment to “turn” LGBT members straight. Conversion therapy has been denounced by mental health professionals and it’s even outlawed in states like Vermont, California, New Jersey, Illinois and Oregon.

Pence also has a long record of being extremely pro life. He has made an effort several times to declare the unborn as people under the 14th amendment, and grant the unborn equal protection under the 14th amendment. Pence is strongly against Planned Parenthood. According to ontheissues.org, he has supported a bill to prohibit federal funding to Planned Parenthood. He also supported prohibiting federal funding to ALL abortions. He’s voted for yes for banning partial birth abortion, forbidding human cloning for reproduction and medical research, funding health providers who do not provide abortion information, and banning federal health coverage that includes abortion.

Donald Trump has a lot of controversial, outrageous policies, however, Mike Pence not only has the same policies as Trump, but he holds very traditionalist views on topics that greatly affect large groups of people. Now that Pence is in power, and the GOP won the Senate and the House of Representatives, many are worrying that certain abortion and LGBT rights will be overturned. Pence is against fundamental reproductive and LGBT rights, and that’s why I’m afraid of Pence.

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“As a young child, I never thought I would have been as accomplished as I am now, and I feel like a lot of people in this generation realize that along with me.” #humansofmaldenhigh

A photo posted by Humans of Malden High School (@_humansofmhs) on Nov 16, 2016 at 8:43am PST

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On November 9th, 2016, history was made for a reason that a vast majority of Americans had feared.

After a grueling, cringe-inducing presidential race between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the latter, Donald Trump became the 2016 President-Elect of the United States of America. Thus, America and many surrounding countries struck with equal amounts of fear fell into a collective state of despondency in digesting this outcome of this very unique election.

What has been decided, has been decided. The past cannot be altered. Many Americans spite the Electoral College for its archaic methods and wish for its removal. Had it not been for the Electoral College, Hillary Clinton would have won as she had won the popular vote.

Though, our system has elected Trump as the 45th President of the United States. Now, many Americans find themselves asking questions such as where do we go from here and can the future of our nation be righted in spite of the man who will be spearheading it for the next four years?

After Trump fills Obama’s space in the White House, there may be grave consequences for multitudes of people. People of color, those who find a place in the LGBTQ+ community, and immigrants alike are angered and fearing for their lives. America is becoming a more unsafe place for them by the day. That is not the type of climate the nation should be in following a presidential election.

The main thing that is striking Americans right now is fear. What Trump plans on doing while in office will have large implications that will span over the entirety of the nation and other nations likewise. He has an astoundingly shallow worldview and is using one of the biggest platforms in the world to pursue his own interests. Nothing about him is telling of his competence for being the next president of the United States, but that is who we elected.

If anything, this election has proven that America is much more bigoted and racist than many people believed. There have been sufficient amounts of evidence that has supported this notion. The racism and bigotry instilled within American culture and society have been the catalyst for racial tensions and tensions among the queer community that have proven to be deadly. Maybe the so-called progress being made concerning issues such as xenophobia, racism, and homophobia were never truly tangible.

Trump’s voters had the largest say in issues that simply do not apply to them which is exceedingly frustrating for people who will bear the brunt of Trump’s laws, bills, and other political instatements. It would be dangerous to turn a blind eye toward the motives of the Trump administration and compliantly watch as the country changes; most likely for the worst.

It is important to recognize that young people are much more politically capable than they are given credit for. Young adults had just as much say in this election as anyone else. The results of this election will have the most consequences for us especially. Teens and young adults have educated themselves on the nation’s political climate as the issues are extremely personal.

Politics are important to teens as it poses as a unique outlet for the expression of their views and beliefs. People are currently protesting in the streets against the results of this election just as Trump’s supporters gave their own silent protest in voting for him. Many people who just reached legal voting age in America voted for a change that they may be too young to realize the consequences of. This a change many people extol, but the majority cower at.

But this is democracy. And democracy is most powerful in the hands of those newly exposed to utilizing it.

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Dear Nedlam,

I just got my report card back and I failed the first test of this quarter and I didn’t do too well last quarter, so I’m freaking out!!!! I need to get my grades up because I want to get into a really good college and I’m afraid they’ll see how bad I did and I just want to not mess up, and I don’t know what to do!

               -FREAKED OUT!!!!

Dear FREAKED OUT,

Well, I can tell that you are pretty worried, but don’t worry, everyone has days, or tests like these. One piece of good news is that the quarter you messed up in was  first quarter, which is the perfect time to decide that you are determined to get your grades up since we still have three more quarters to do so. Just because you failed your first quarter does not mean that your world is over. Colleges don’t tend to look at individual quarters, they look more at the end of the year average and your G.P.A, so if you do well in the next three quarters, then it should be no problem. But how to do better  is an entirely different story. First things first, figure out where you went wrong. Not in what classes messed up on, but why you messed them up. Was it because you always turned homework in late? Or was it because you didn’t understand what was going on? Or maybe you pulled an all night movie marathon before the next test? If you have answered yes to any of these questions, and have come up with more reasons why things didn’t work out for you this quarter, then it’s time to come up with new strategies. If your issue last quarter was with procrastination, reward yourself for doing things right when you get home from school, or, if it’s because you find it harder to do your homework at home due to distractions, go to the library or a coffee shop instead. Another example is if you never study or study too much you should try to balance your time better by doing fun, creative studying strategies, and getting enough sleep. If your issue lies in not understanding the work then come after or before school and ask your teacher for help, or get help from a tutor. The goal here is just to figure out whatever works best for you and helps you improve more. Also, a big issue many students face when tasked with getting their work done is time management. I answered a separate question on time management in greater detail, but the gist of it is to simply figure out what you need to do, get an idea of how long it takes to do them, when you need to do them, and what you can add or take out of your schedule. Creating a simple schedule or even just using your agenda more will help you become a lot more organized and will make it easier for you to have time to get done what you need to, and remember what needs to be done. Another step you can take is to set a goal for your next grade, or how much you want to improve by so that way you have something to work toward. There are a lot of great resources out there that can help if you ever need to know more about improving your grades and your strategies to get them and one of the best is your school guidance counselors. If you ever need more help in that area, come to them and I’m sure they’ll be able to help you get back on track. Hope this helps! Good Luck!

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Over the summer, the school committee announced that the Malden Public School buses were going to be cut due to lack of funds. The choice to cut buses was unanimous since it was $400,000 that would then be freed in the budget. There have been questions of what the school committee was going to do about the children who relied on the bus system. These children now have to either be driven by their parents or take public transportation alone.

At first the school committee said that they were going to look for solutions and some suggestions did come up. The main idea proposed was a cost-share transportation program where the parents help to cover the cost so that their children would be able to take the bus for the rest of the 2016-2017 school year. After some discussion the school committee decided on the price of $250 for one child and $400 for two or more children.

At the past school committee on November 14th, the school committee took a final vote on whether to pass this. It was a unanimous choice against it.The committee based this decision off of the fact that it was unclear whether or not they would be able to find funding for the $40,000 cost.

There has been an upset over the decision because parents are worried about how their children will deal with the winter weather and the transportation problems that it brings. No further plans of how the city will deal with this have been announced.

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BY: ANA PIROSCA & FALYN KELLEY 

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