Photo submitted by Shataeya Smith.

Shataeya Smith is a junior at Malden High and varsity track team member who competes in the shot put event. Smith joined indoor track her freshman year, although originally not interested in the sport. She explained that “[she decided to join the team] when [she] had Mr. Londino for English [her] freshman year.” Like many others, she was under the impression that indoor track was a sport that was only about running and sprinting. She recalled that Londino told her that “[She] should do track” and she responded with “[she] doesn’t run.”Coach David Londino also recalls these events, adding that he approached her because “[Smith] looked very athletic and had [a] wonderful attitude.”

When Smith showed signs of doubt, Londino carried on to explaining to her about other events such as shot put, which is now her current event. Smith said that she went into practices and turns out that not only did she enjoyed shotput and being part of the team, but she was also pretty good at it.

In her first year of track, Smith made it to states, proving to be a very valuable part of the team. She continued to go on to doing outdoor track during the spring, participating in the disk throwing event which she continues to succeed at. Smith believes that it’s important for people to know that track is a sport that involves many different skill sets, and is open to all who truly push themselves to work hard.

Smith has also pushes herself to work hard and the effort has paid off, as she has broken her own personal record, throwing a total of 33.2 feet at their meet against Marblehead on Thursday, December 14.  “[It] was a major [personal record] in indoor [track].” Smith explained. Not only was that throw a personal record breaker but it was also a throw that got her into states once again. Smith’s excitement was so great that she “literally ran around the whole stadium, screaming.” Londino also confirms that this great throw, that happened so early in the season, was a “state qualifying throw” and that he was very proud of her.

Her goal is to keep up the good work and momentum. She wants to be able to throw with even more strength so that the shot could go even farther. “[She] can do great things all season,” Smith said proudly, expressing her desire to do her best at states this year. Smith medaled in Division One states for outdoor track, taking eighth place overall. One of Londino’s hopes for Smith is that she places even higher and he is confident in her ability when seeing her early season performance. When it comes to competing in a new league and against new teams, Smith commented that it is  “nerve racking. [Other teams] have talent so now [the team needs] to beat their talent.” Joining a new league means more competition, some that the team has never gone head to head with so they cannot have any assuring assumptions.

Freshmen Makayla Preston has also made the varsity indoor track team and competes aside Smith in the shot put event. Preston expressed that she was immensely nervous when starting out because she did not  have very much experience in the sport but “[Smith] welcomed [her], taught [her what] was needed and gave [her] tips on how to [improve] which [helps] a lot.” Preston is a few inches away from making states as well and thanks Smith, saying that she would not be able to continue to work so successfully “without [Smith’s] help”

Londino compliments the growth he has seen in Smith over her past three years in track, noting how “[she has] come to embrace the expectations that come with being the team’s top thrower and has developed a confidence”. Smith has grown to take of one of the leading in the team. Preston adds how Smith “always gets everyone motivated”. To follow up with what Londino commented earlier about Smith’s optimistic personality, Preston added on about the fact that Smith “always puts a smile on everyone’s face which makes practice much more fun.”

Besides practice and track in general, Smith, like any other student athlete, has many other events in her life. Aside from academics and her job, Smith is one of the Junior Varieties coordinators. “How [she] balances all [this] is mind-boggling.” Smith explained, following up that she “really doesn’t know how [she] finds time for it all.” Her additional hobbies are sleep, “which is an essential,” and working out. Mostly, she thinks it is important to have those couple of hours spared to hang out with friends, stating that her best friends “allow [her] to escape.” She has additional plans to find more free time to join clubs or possibly try out for a fall sports.

Smith’s advice for future track members is to “never stress out” because there are multiple chances, to talk with team members or coaches, and “never get into your head of that anyone is the best”.  Everyone has room for improvement, as Smith states that “[there is] always more that you can do”. In whichever sport, Smith believes it is important to “give it your all” and to “exceed the expectations that are set.”

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Malden runner Oussama Ourich leads the pack of runners in a past boys’ indoor track meet. Photo taken by Sandra Rivadeneira.

On Thursday December 7, 2017 Malden High’s indoor track team went up against Beverly in their first meet of the season. Although the girls lost their match, both teams put up a good fight resulting in a victory for the boys team.

Sophomore runner Keri Gilligan felt “[the team] had an overall very successful first opening meet although the girls team did not come out with a win.” Gilligan added that while track may seem like an individual only sport, “it takes everyone’s efforts together to have a successful meet and leave with a win.” Gilligan also felt that she had a good performance especially since she contributed to the scoring.

Senior Runner Eric Toh said “Overall, [the boys team] did a good job coming into the meet with a game plan and everyone did their part in executing it.” Luckily, that was enough for them to win. Toh felt that “[He] managed to pace [himself] well throughout the race and pulled away at the right time.”

Senior Arthur Kossoski, and Senior Ivan Zhang got 1st, 2nd, and 4th in the 600. Gilligan said that “[her] time was not the outcome [she] wanted, at 14:19 in the 2 mile, but [she] placed 3rd in the girls 2 mile race. Gilligan also said that some highlights “regarding the meet as a whole, [were that the girls team] had one person qualify for states, and one very close to doing so.” Toh also said how a newer member Senior Trent Bazley was able to “get his footing in the high jump really quickly”

Both Toh and Gilligan felt that they had a really good first meet of the season. Toh said “Personally [he thinks he] had a good first race of the season. [He] was close to [his] personal record and that’s a really good place to be in early in the season.” Gilligan also said “[She] did goal at maintaining a strong mental state while running, as that is something very important in addition to being in good condition physically.” They both thought there could be some simple improvements to the team as well as themselves. Gilligan felt she needs to improve her time by working hard on both speed and endurance. She also stated “there was a lot of new talent brought to the team this year and [they] have been putting in so much work in preparation for [their] meets. As a team, [they] have seen overall improvements in actual times even in the early season.” Toh added that “it feels like everyone who is still on the team has improved from last year, and at practice there is a good hard working environment“.

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Junior Tyler Lu is one of the swimmers for the Malden High swim team and specializes in 100 meter freestyle. This is his second year swimming for the swim team, but he has been swimming since he was much younger. He began swimming since he was five years old but decided to stop when he was 12 for a short time because “[he] wasn’t enjoying it as much” but now “enjoys swimming again.” When he began his sophomore year he decided he would swim again because he had friends on the team like Kevin Ochoa and Luis Gilbert.

Tyler’s specialty is the 100 meter freestyle, with his personal best being one minute and eleven seconds. Tyler said that he “hopes to get 1:08 by the end of the season, and continue to improve” and that “[he] may be a fast swimmer, but [he] needs to improve on [his] endurance.”

He hopes that the team makes states and believes that “states are a great thing” to strive for. Tyler said that the “chemistry is great on the team and everyone is friendly. People try and push each other to achieve success, which is one of the strengths that the team has. During his free time, Tyler enjoys playing games, basketball, and football.

Tyler would like to continue swimming in the future, but states that “it would only be to stay in shape, not professionally” or at the collegiate level. Tyler looks up to one of his friends and fellow swimmers Kevin Ochoa, who is also a junior at Malden High. He said that he looks up to him because he is such a good swimmer.

One of Tyler’s fellow swimmers and friend, Kevin Ochoa, who has known Tyler since the sixth grade said that “Tyler is always available to do things that the team needs, which is one of his biggest strengths and this can motivate the new members of the team because he performs well in the role and has fun while doing it.” He continued to praise Tyler is “fluent in the fundamentals of swimming which are made evident every time he swims.”

When asked about his leadership, Kevin said that “Tyler is that kid who always makes the effort to aquatint with and become great friends with all new coming swimmers, which is why he’s such a treasured member of the team.”

Tyler seems to be one of the key features of the team, because Kevin also described him as being “as good as you can get” stating that “Tyler always gives it his all” , and that “[they] all love having him around.”

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a film directed by Rian Johnson and is the eighth episodic movie of the legendary Star Wars franchise. A sequel to 2015’s The Force Awakens (A movie that has since gone on to gross over $2 billion at the box office and become the third highest grossing movie of all time), The Last Jedi is one of the most anticipated movies of the year.

As a huge fan of Star Wars myself, I was one of the many faithful fans who pre-ordered tickets to the movie the instant that the first trailer dropped. Since then, I have anxiously been waiting for December 14th to come around so I can once again witness “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away” accompanied by another one of the iconic opening text crawl. And because of this, it brings no joy to say that The Last Jedi is unfortunately, a huge disappointment, a movie that can be perfectly described a beautiful looking mess.   

This is not to say that The Last Jedi is a particularly bad movie; that is far from the truth. It is a perfectly enjoyable watch for the casual audience. However, it pales in comparison to the expectations set out most fans of the original trilogy and massively underwhelms its lofty expectations.

First, let’s get the positives out of the way:

As mentioned, The Last Jedi is a beautiful looking movie. Known for his unique visuals, Rian Johnson puts his fingerprints all over the breathtaking shots featured throughout the entire movie. This film features the best looking action sequences in the entirety of Star Wars, whether it’s with lightsabers, X-wings and Tie fighters, the Millennium Falcon or other spaceships.

In addition, The Last Jedi’s all star crew also puts in great performances throughout. Mark Hamill actually has dialogue in this movie, and with his much darker portrayal of Luke Skywalker, puts in his best acting performance in the whole saga. The scenes with Leia are heartbreaking knowing the fate of Carrie Fisher in real life, and the new characters introduced in The Force Awakens are once again all very well portrayed by their respective actors. However, the standout performance in this movie was that of Adam Driver, who with the conflicted portrayal of Kylo Ren, makes for one of the most compelling villains in recent sci-fi movies, and unquestionably the best aspect of this whole movie.

‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ logo. Photo from Wikimedia.

One of the biggest complaints of The Force Awakens by critics was that it felt like a complete rehash of A New Hope while taking minimal risks. This is not something that can be said about The Last Jedi. It is not just a rehash of Empire Strikes Back and takes some major risks, some of which should be applauded and take the franchise in a whole new direction.

However, this is where the movie runs into one of its biggest problems. The risks it takes are radical, which bring significant changes to the Star Wars’ lore, not all of which make sense. For instance, the movie introduces new ways that The Force can be used, and while they all make for cool sequences, they also raise questions as to why none of these powers have never been used or hinted at before in the entire saga.

An even bigger risk the movie takes is the darker portrayal of Luke Skywalker, the main protagonist of the original trilogy. While as mentioned, Mark Hamill does a tremendous job with this different portrayal of Luke, it hardly makes sense when you consider how he was characterized throughout the original movies. This is so apparent that even Mark Hamill has publicly admitted that he disagreed with the direction of his character in the movie, and it is clear why. Without getting into spoilers, during a flashback scene in The Last Jedi, Luke does something that completely goes against how he has been portrayed throughout the Saga, and such an action by Luke is incredibly hard to buy as an audience who knows his character history.

Another issue in the movie was that it seemed to completely ignore some of the events of The Force Awakens as well as what was hinted at and built up throughout that movie. For example, somehow at the start of this movie, The First Order has complete control of the Galaxy and has The Resistance on the backfoot, even though it was established in The Force Awakens that they were only a small reminiscent of The Empire, and that movie ended with their StarKiller Base being destroyed. In addition, the movie also does an underwhelming job at answering questions about characters and their backgrounds, all of which were hinted at heavily by The Force Awakens. It is as if Rian Johnson completely scrapped the plans made and the subplots set up by the director of The Force Awakens, J.J. Abrams and decided to make a completely separate film from the one that was planned.

These are not the only logical fallacies in the movie, it’s full of glaring plot holes that are difficult to talk about without diving into spoilers. But rest assured, these plot holes are not nitpicky; an entire side plot could have been entirely avoided if a character did something that had no consequence to that character’s plan. Any intelligent member of the audience will be able to identify many of these plot holes without even looking for them.

However, the biggest negative of this movie is an entire storyline in a Casino Planet involving Finn and a newly introduced character, Rose. The subplot takes up about 20-25 minutes of the runtime of this movie, and while it is relevant to the plot, it disconnects from the rest of the movie entirely. Whenever the movie cuts to this story arc, it screeches to a halt, and the whole sequence seems like an unnecessary detour that takes away from the excitement of the rest of the movie while tanking its pace. The arc itself is awkward, and although it attempts to teach a moral lesson on animal cruelty and war profiteering, it fails on its delivery and sucks out all the excitement that makes it a Star Wars movie.

Overall, despite being an enjoyable watch, The Last Jedi falters under its towering expectations and makes for a movie that is mostly style over substance and one that will surely be divisive amongst fans of the saga.                               

Film Rating: Light 7/10            

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By Angelina Prum and Quyen Le

Cypher is a private dance group consisting of students from Malden High School. They debuted their group at last year’s Lunar New Years’ Festival. Cypher’s dance style mainly consists of Korean pop music dance routines and hip hop. The members are Junior Chon Huynh, Junior Vinnie Truong, Junior Vivian Dang, Junior Quang Nguyen, Sophomore Jenny Nguyen, and Sophomore Astha Lama.

Jenny Nguyen stated that “[it is] important to bring people together and do something [they] love.” Cypher’s goal is to spread diversity on dance culture. Huynh started dancing in 5th grade, he started Cypher because he enjoyed dancing. Cypher means alot to each and every one of the members.

On stage, Truong states that he feels “lively because [the team is] such a fun family”. Jenny Nguyen states that as a group she feels nervous when she performs on stage but overcomes because all her friends are dancing with each other. Quang Nguyen states that on stage, he feels supported by his team and that he feels “safe dancing with [the team].”

Cypher performing at the 2017 Lunar New Year Festival. Photo by Tobi Pitan

Cypher practices frequently every week. The team practices in the school and outside of the school. When they practice outside of school, their practices are usually in Boston. They also perform not only at local events at the Malden High School but also events in Boston. Cypher has also been practicing for their auditions for the upcoming Junior Varieties show this spring. Quang Huynh states that “[he] is excited and [has been preparing]”.  

The team members all share a passion for pop music. Dang expressed how it is much easier to perform and dance with the team because “[they help] each other out like a family”. Lama mentioned that “[she] feels very excited and nervous to perform on stage with the team because [she] is not the type of person who can easily perform in front of a large group of people, but with them [it is] a lot easier and [they] make it fun.”

Overall, Cypher express themselves through dance and they strive to bring enjoyment to everyone around them.

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Senior Michael Giordano, one of the captains of the  Boys Hockey team, has been playing hockey since he was five years old; this is his fourth year on the Malden and Revere Hockey team, playing the center position

From a young age, Giordano was interested in hockey. He mentions that his father introduced him to hockey with the many Bruins that he watched. He continued with the sport for ongoing years since ¨ [he] was good and always had fun playing.¨, although he enjoys watching hockey games, he adores playing much more.

Giordano includes that he wants to improve on ¨being able to shake off a bad play and to show [his] team that [they] can beat anyone.¨ He wants to motivate his team every game, whether they lose or win. He also knows that his team has the ability to win with all the practice they have.

As one of the members on the team, Giordano enjoys ¨how close the team is, [they] all have a lot of fun together, ¨ in or out of the games they are all ¨like a family.” He also believes that he and the team are ready for the many games that are coming along.

As a player, Giordano wants ¨to reach 100 career points and lead [his] team as far as [he] can.” As a student, he wants to be able to complete all his work when needed and not miss any.

Giordano describes his strengths stating that “[he is] a power forward which means that [he uses his] strength to beat players and once [he gets]  in close [he] can put the puck wherever [he needs] to.¨

For future plans, Giordano wants to  ¨[play]  junior hockey next year which is required to play college hockey and [he] will see where [he] can go from there.¨ Giordano already plans to play Hockey in his college years.

With the remaining season, he is ready to see ¨how much more [they] will grow and come together and see how far [they] can go this year.¨

To people that are interested in the sport, Giordano says that ¨[Hockey] is a fun sport to watch and play, [they] are a strong team that will be exciting to watch this year.”

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Have safe break, and happy holidays! We’re looking forward to 2018! We will be publishing as soon as we get back. 

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By Gabriel Matnog and Cristopher Correa

Malden Public Library hosted a Young Adult Winter Party as one of their many youth events. The party was held on Thursday, December 14th. Its main purpose, librarian Patrick Brennan says, is for “people [to] come and relax after school”. Various activities are put out for people to use along with snacks and drinks. Examples of some video games the library has for comers to use are NBA 2k17 and Super Smash Bros. There were also all kinds of board games from Apples to Apples all the way to Uno. Snacks and drinks were generously provided along with a pizza that was devoured very quickly.

Many kids came to the party, around 20-30 kids; some from Malden Public Schools and others from private schools such as Cheverus. One of the party attendees was Malden High freshman Bonnie Kuang, who found out about the event through a friend. Kuang says that what caught her attention was that it appeared to be a “fun and calm party”.  She states that “[she has] attended other events like this during the summer.” A factor that usually draws her to come to the library’s events is that most of them are free events for young adults and they are a great way to meet and interact with other people.

Events similar to their monthly movie nights and young adult parties such as this one are funded by Friends of the Malden Public Library, which is a non-profit organization that raises money to support the library. Brennan explains that the reason the library has so many different versions of these gatherings for elementary students all the way high school students is because “[Malden has] many different schools and [it is] very rare that there are public places where students from all the schools can get together.”

Brennan says that “[he plans] on continuing to host parties and other activities such as this one.” The Malden Public Library works very hard to spread the word and advertise these parties and other youth activities as much as they can. Not only are flyers posted all over the doors once you enter the library, but they also post it on their Facebook and Twitter and the events are scheduled on an online calendar available through the library’s website. The holiday party iis the last teen events for the fall season, winter events will begin in either January or February.

For more upcoming events like this, go to this page to find out more.

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“Oh hai, Mark!”

The Disaster Artist, starring James and Dave Franco and directed by James Franco, was released in December to unexpected acclaim, scoring an impressive 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, and even received a standing ovation at its initial screening at the SXSW festival. The film is already nominated for several awards, most notably for two Golden Globes, one for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and Best Actor – Musical or Comedy for James Franco as Tommy Wiseau.

The film is based on the book The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made, written by Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell. The book and the movie both focus in the making of the 2003 movie The Room, which is widely considered to be the worst movie ever made, due to its random subplots, awkward acting, terribly written script, and its obvious use of green screens. The Room was directed, written and produced by Tommy Wiseau, arguably the weirdest man in Hollywood, and he also stars as the lead character “Johnny”. The Room is about a love triangle between Johnny, played by Tommy Wiseau, Lisa, played by Juliette Danielle; and Mark, played by Greg Sestero (fun fact: Wiseau named the character Mark after “Mark Damon”, not knowing that the actor is actually named Matt Damon). The movie has a plethora of iconic yet awful lines, the most infamous one being “you’re tearing me apart, Lisa!”, which was added to pay homage a line said by James Dean in the 1955 movie Rebel Without a Cause. Although The Room is considered one of the worst movies ever made, it amassed a cult following over the years, spawning midnight screenings and Q&As with the actors all over the world.

James Franco plays the peculiar Tommy Wiseau in The Disaster Artist, while his brother Dave Franco plays Greg Sestero. The movie starts off in 1998, the year when Wiseau and Sestero first met. Sestero is an aspiring actor with perpetual shyness and a lack of confidence and is inspired by Wiseau after he performs at the class. The pair, sharing a common dream; to make it big in the acting business, move to Los Angeles to kick-start their dream after becoming friends. Neither found any success, which motivated Wiseau to create The Room, taking matters into his own hands. The making of The Room was disastrous, having a ton of unorthodox and strange moments, examples being Wiseau buying two cameras instead of renting them (which is standard practice in shooting films), Wiseau being mad at the crew for laughing during filming, and taking 38 takes to say a simple line. After the film was completed and screened at a premiere, Wiseau becomes upset when the audience laughs at the film instead of taking it seriously, but Sestero convinces him that even though they were not taking it seriously, the audience is having a fun time. Although The Room only made $1,800 against its mysterious six million dollar budget, it became a cult classic.

James Franco, who acted in and directed The Disaster Artist. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia.

Now, prior to watching the film, I thought The Disaster Artist was just going to be a hilarious comedy. Do not get me wrong, it is a hilarious film, especially with James Franco’s perfect impression of Tommy Wiseau, however, I did not expect the movie to be as heartwarming and inspiring as it was. We all can relate to Sestero and Wiseau since we all had a dream we desperately wanted to accomplish, and throughout the movie, I wanted to see them succeed. And even though The Room disregards all rules of cinema in the most bizarre way possible, Wiseau still chased after his dream, and never gave up regardless of what people told him. Most people give up on just acting or directing; Wiseau did all four roles (director, actor, producer, writer) by himself. In the beginning of the film, a couple of famous people in the film industry, such as J.J Abrams, Kevin Smith, Kristen Bell, Adam Scott, etc, talked about The Room in a positive way, acknowledging how although The Room is a bad movie, The Room is more memorable than any movie released in 2003, which I agree with 100%. The Disaster Artist made Wiseau a relatable person, and I felt sympathy for both Wiseau and Sestero throughout the movie, and I genuinely cared about the two.

In summary, The Disaster Artist is an unexpectedly uplifting movie, filled with hysterical moments guaranteed to make you laugh, and scenes that will pull your heartstrings. I would definitely give this movie a solid nine out of ten, and will highly recommend this movie to anyone. The Disaster Artist is showing at AMC Assembly Row, AMC Loews Boston Common 19, and Somerville Theatre.

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We all desire a form of connection in our lives, whether it be through friendships or relationships. We can focus our energy so much on finding these things that we forget the other good things in life going on right in front of us, only we are blind to them. We can give all of our time and effort to others, whether it’s being a good friend, child, sibling or partner.

I have been one to have fallen victim to this. For most of my high school career, I have been so preoccupied with being a good daughter to my parents, taking care of my younger brother and being a good friend to those I care about. I have used my energy towards others so much that I haven’t been taking the time to focus on myself and my own goals. I haven’t developed who I desire myself to be as a person because I was so concerned with whether or not the people around me were satisfied with what I had to offer them.

While it is without a doubt that the love other people give you and the love you give them can be a vital support system to your life, it should not be put above the care and attention you give to yourself. Now, I’m not saying to be utterly self-absorbed and without a care for anyone else in the world, but it is very important to love yourself first if you want to also want to give your love to others.

Appreciating yourself can allow you to have a much more positive worldview. When you have a high self esteem as well as goals you set yourself to achieve, your attitude improves and you are more confident not only in how you appear to others, but also to yourself. With this mindset, your mental health with steer away from negative thoughts that could lead you down a dark path. Instead, you will feel motivated to take care yourself, both physically and mentally, in order to improve your well-being.

Not only does loving yourself lead to a better view of the world, it also allows you to view yourself in a caring, loving manner. Just because you see yourself as a great individual as you should be, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stop improving. You have a unique set of traits and abilities, and you should continue to pursue and improve these abilities compared to nobody other than your past self. Doing this will allow you to grow as a person to become the best you you could possibly be.

Love can result in extreme happiness, but it is loving yourself that gets you to the point in life before anything. If you love yourself, others will be inspired and drawn to you. Your strengths will prosper, and your weaknesses will continuously improve.

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The Malden High School Choral Art Society had another successful performance with their annual “ Winter Holiday Concert” directed by Choral Arts Director Todd Cole on December 21st. The concert was divided into three sections of performances from the Mixed Chorus, Madrigal Singers and the Concert Choir.

Senior Zach Dunphy. Photo by Neden Bernadin.

To start off the show, both the Concert Choir and Madrigal Singers sang the popular Christmas carol, “Silent Night” that was in a unique style, in which all the students lined up between the rows in the audience holding a lighted candle while singing in a melodious harmony.

Small soloist performances consisted of sophomore Francesca Seac, who sang a Christmas song, “Mary Did You Know?” receiving a standing ovation from the audience. Seniors Ramon Aguinaldo and Zack Dunphy had solo parts during the Madrigal and Concert Choir sections.

Toward the end of the show, a handful of the past MHS alumni came back to participate in the annual tradition of singing the classic Christmas carol “O Holy Night” along with Principal Lombardi and other teachers.

Senior Rita Ortiz has been apart of the Choral Arts Society since she came to Malden High during her freshman year. Specifically for this show, she was the Alto Section Leader in the Madrigal Singers group. Before the concert approached, she was “most looking forward to the night going smoothly and having a good last winter concert” because not only were the holiday songs added into that section happened to be “[her] favorite pieces

Senior Ramon Aguinaldo during his solo moment. Photo taken by Ramon Aguinaldo.

”, but [her] older sister, who was a former student of Cole as well before she graduated, was standing right by her side during the “O Holy Night” tradition.

Considering this is Ortiz’s last year, she has been applying to colleges and when she specifically described her Choir experience, she recalled that her favorite part “was the fact that [she comes back] to the same room, the same director, and the same people each year.” For her, having that same atmosphere in the program “gives the class more of a welcoming and family-like feel” in the sense that it was a truly fun program combined with learning, teaching and a fun environment to be apart of. Through the years participating in the program, Ortiz noticed that her and the other Choir members had a chance “to know each other and grow closer and closer each year” instead of the usual routine of sitting in a classroom with different teachers and classmates.

As for the challenges coming into the concert, an issue that she found difficult along for other students was trying to remain “confident” in her singing. Now looking back at her freshman year, she recalled moments where she “was very timid and nervous to even sing within the group” but as time went along, it was something that she overcame. During this year, she considers herself along with the other choir members as “lucky” that they were able to have overcome their fear of being afraid by letting loose, considering that it was something “hard to do”.

Cole described that “[his] number one criteria when preparing for these concerts is that [there is] quality music” and “something that is [going to] have [the students] become better singers”. Another criteria was that it was important to incorporate “ a wide variety of styles”, especially for this concert in which they included many pieces that covered different faiths and religions along with snow pieces.

Pacing the pieces quickly ahead of the concert was found difficult considering that they started rehearsing at the beginning of the school year and he realizes that students may find it weird that they’re practicing these holiday pieces before the season approached.

This year, he revealed that they had “ integrated the [boys in Choral Arts]” back into the big groups. He explained that the “Concert Cirque was different” and making sure that everyone was ok with that, because “some of the girls [have not] sung with guys in a couple of years”.

Cole also mentioned that he looks forward to having the alumni come back and sing the traditional O Holy Night with them. He finds it nice that they come back to support the chorus.

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The annual Malden High School’s band winter concert is an event where the Malden High School band orchestra perform music. This year it was held at the Jenkins Auditorium on December 15. This event attracted a big audience that left the auditorium with amusement and satisfactory due to the phenomenal performances. 

MHS Flutists rehearsing for their section. Photo taken by Jesaias Benitez.

The winter concert consisted of the Malden High School band playing songs for the holidays, such as “Jingle Bells”, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, “Hallelujah”, and etc.

Freshman Bonnie Kuang stated “[The concert] was very interesting and [she] was very intrigued by each and every performance.” She later on explained how the songs were “beautifully played and the comedic background made it even more interesting”. Kuang’s personal favorite was when the band performed “Jingle Bells”. She added “the band played [“Jingle Bells”] splendidly and the songs they performed were perfect for the holiday season”.

Freshman Jimmy Ton expressed how “the band is a team, [they] work and cooperate as a team, so [they] perform as a team”. Each and everyone of the band members has

Wind Ensemble members practicing prior to the concert. Photo taken by Jesaias Benitez.

“worked hard and is determined to pursue [their] goals”. During this concert, “[the band’s] goals were to entertain the audience with [their] performances along with spreading the the holiday’s joys, and [Ton] is pretty sure they have achieved that”. 

Matthew Shao Wong “very much enjoyed the concert because loved the percussion line and though it was excellent”. Wong later on explained how the concert made him feel excited for the upcoming holidays. He added that “[he would] love to go again”  He later on expressed how the “Christmas song from Charlie Brown was very nostalgic and reminded [him] of his childhood”.

Overall, both the audience and band alike greatly enjoyed this year’s winter concert.

The post MHS Band Winter Concert 2017 appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

Nedlam, the Malden High School Mascot, has been bringing spirit to the Golden Tornadoes for the past 58 years. The name ‘Nedlam’ comes from spelling ‘Malden’ backwards.

The idea of having a school mascot came from the “Maldonian” yearbook in 1959. In 1567, the City of Maldon, England was granted the right to bear three royal gold lions on its coat of arms by Queen Elizabeth I of England. In 1649, Joseph Hills, an early settler and landholder who emigrated from Maldon, England named Malden after his home city when it became incorporated into a town. The MHS class of 1959 decided that choosing a lion would be ideal as it was an integral part of Malden’s City Seal.

Since the person who wears Nedlam’s costume changes every time, many people have gotten the experience of being the school mascot, including MHS students. One student who had the experience of being Nedlam during the Malden Holiday Parade, an annual parade that is held before the holidays, was Sophomore Ved Gray. Gray mentioned that he “had a wonderful experience” being the school mascot as he had a lot of fun. He really liked the idea of having a school mascot as it gives the school “something to identify with when competing with other schools” and that it “brings our school pride”. He also liked how the name ‘Nedlam’ “pertains to Malden” as some schools’ mascot does not.

Students at Malden High have different opinions on Nedlam as some like the idea of having a school mascot while others do not. Some students like Sophomore Jacob Graybeal believed having a school mascot “motivates students to do better”, which can be seen during events such as the school Pep Rally and Malden city parades. Graybeal also mentioned that “Nedlam gives the school more spirit”.

Students that did not know a lot about Nedlam or did not have an opinion on them also weren’t taking a side. This is because they do not get to see Nedlam a lot as one of the only school wide events is the Pep Rally, which occurs only once a school year. However, Nedlam can be seen at events such as sports games.

Even though some students don’t know a lot about Nedlam, it is used to represent Malden High School, whether it is through sports matches, the Maldonian Yearbook, or the Blue and Gold Newspaper. Nedlam motivates students to do better and brings pride and spirit to Malden High.

The post History of Nedlam appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

After a long campaign of going to door to door, creating absurd amounts of fillers, and willingly sitting on a panel and being questioned on the issues of Malden, the newly elected City Council and School Committee members were officially sworn into their positions.

Happiness was evident in the Jenkins House auditorium. Many citizens of Malden, especially the families of new and re-elected councilman congregated together to express their happiness for the hard work and dedication that each of the candidates put in during the elections before the inauguration.

Before taking the oath, the city councilors-elect and members-elect of the School Committee and the Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School Committee were announced by City Messenger Peter Levine. The 2018- 2020 City Councilors are Peg Crowe of ward 1, Paul Condon of ward 2, John P. Matheson of ward 3, Ryan O’Malley of ward 4, Barbara M. Murphy of ward 5, David Camell of ward 6, Neal Anderson of ward 7, and Jadeane Sica of ward 8. Also, the three Councillors at Large are Craig A. Spadafora, Debbie A. DeMaria, and Stephen Winslow. The 2018 – 2020 School Committee includes Michael Drummey of Ward 1, Robert McCarthy, Jr. of Ward 2, Jennifer Spadafora of Ward 3, Leonard Iovino of Ward 4, Tara Beardsley of Ward 5, Colleen Leon of Ward 6, Catherine Bordonaro of ward 7, and John H. Froio of Ward 8. Mayor of Malden Gary Christenson was also present for this event.

The Wah Lum Kung Fu and Tai Chai Academy performing the “Dragon Dance” at the City of Malden Inauguration. Photo by Sidney Rodriguez.

Following that was a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance by the Malden Girl Scouts and Boys Scouts, which included Malden High School’s very own senior Harrison Zeiberg. The National Anthem was beautifully sung by Malden resident, and sophomore at the College of Holy Cross, Julia Hall. Reverend John Mulloy of St. Joseph’s Parish gave the Invocation.

The Mayor Christenson spoke to citizens and the city-elects. Notably, he thanked all the past city councilors and school committee councillors by saying “[their] contributions in making Malden a better place for us all are deeply appreciated”. Also the Mayor announced that his and all of Malden’s objective for the new year is to “move Malden forward”.

Finally, after countless days of preparation and hard work which was noted by the Mayor of Malden, the City Councilors, and School Committee Members were administered the Oath of Office by Mayor Gary Christenson.

However, the ceremony did not end just there, Iman Hamid Bourote, from the Outreach Community and Reform Center presented a prayer focusing on the topics of peace and community. After, the Wah Lum Kung Fu and Tai Chi Academy performed the “Dragon Dance” in which their were music and the dancers performed cool tricks inside of a dragon, a dance that is said to bring good luck. The entertainment continued with a musical performance from the Malden High School Choral Arts Singers led by Todd Cole.

The ceremony ended with a Benediction from Reverend Otto O’Connor of the First Parish in Malden. Julia Hall also closed by singing God Bless America.

The post City of Malden Inauguration appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

Malden High runners getting the rules explained to them by an Official. Photo by David Lombardi.

Go check out the photo gallery here. 

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Sgt. Frog is a comedy anime television series directed by Junichi Sato. It was originally a manga series by Mine Yoshizaki that was developed into an anime in 2004. The manga series was first started around April 1999 and was continued until 2007. A new series was released in October 2013 and is still ongoing today, continuing to entertain its fans.

The animation of the anime may be old, but the animations still look decent by today’s standards. The animation also sometimes used 3D models to animate their characters usually during the end of an episode.

The series is not just about the frogs but about the people that they live with so that the world does not have to know about them. They had also crashed landed on their property which had made them get discovered.

Cover art for Sgt. Fog. Photo courtesy of Flickr.

In the first episode, the human characters are captured by the alien frog from outer space that they had found. The first three characters that we are introduced to are the three main characters. The first one is a girl who is named Natsumi Hinata and she is the oldest sister of the family. The second character introduced is a boy named Fuyuki Hinata and is the youngest. The third character introduced was the alien frog named Keroro who is the leader of the alien frog group also known as their platoon.

During the first clip of the episode, it has the leader of the platoon Keroro in the house cleaning and doing chores for the Hinata family. At first, the viewers, don’t know whats going on but they have a funny narrator helping the audience. We are also introduced to the characters being able to break the fourth wall of the anime, something typically not seen in other animes. In fact, a character breaks the fourth wall in almost every episode.

The next clip was captioned as the episode that should have gone first. This gives it a  comedy effect on the viewers that would find it funny. In this episode/clip, the viewers are shown the Hinata family before they had discovered Keroro. Natsumi was waking up Fuyuki from sleeping and she points at the wall, saying that there was an alien there. It woke Fuyuki up,  but when they looked at the wall, the wallpaper peeled back, revealing Keroro. This made Natsumi freak out and made Fuyuki excited since he discovered the alien. Even if it was by chance, Keroro still pulled out a ball with buttons and press it to tie up the humans. The frogs call humans pekoponians as another for the human race.

The anime has very good character development and is a really funny anime. There are also many different characters which could become one of your favorite characters. If you want a quick laugh and have the time to watch it, Sgt. Frog would be great new anime to add to your list of shows to watch.

The post Anime Review: Sgt. Frog appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

The Malden High Girls Varsity Basketball Team went up against Peabody on December 21, 2017. The girls started off the season with a record of 1-2. Despite their 58-44 loss, the girls are hoping to improve on their 5-15 record from the previous season, as well as their teamwork and coordination, to proceed and develop their skills.

During the third quarter, Malden gained a total of 30 points, catching up to Peabody, only 10 points off. Unfortunately, they were unable to score enough points in the fourth quarter to beat Peabody.

Senior captain Mackenzie Furlong stated that “[she does not] dwell on [her] mistakes [hoping to prevent mistakes amongst her other team mates].” Furlong ended up playing a majority of the game, contributing many points to the final score. She had a role in many of the plays, whether she was the one taking the shot or if she was helping the team bring the ball closer to the hoop.

Senior Xue Zhou explained how catching up to Peabody made the girls push harder, due to the fact that they had a stronger chance of winning. She adds that “[They believed] that [the team could have] won the game”, the close score encouraged the girls to score more and be more responsible with the decision they make with the ball.

Junior captain Salma Bezzat stated that she tries her best to “remember what [her] goal is”, even when she is exhausted during the games. Like Furlong, Bezzat does not dwell on her past mistakes, she inspects her mistakes, what she did wrong, and simply avoids it for the next game and the future.

The MHS Girl’s Basketball team practicing before a game. Photo by Julie Yu.

Both the coach and the players agree that in order to improve their record this season, they need to work on their defense. Due to their lack of defense in this game, Peabody got an early lead and managed to keep that lead throughout all four quarters of the game. The players agreed that if they stepped up their defense, they would have at least stopped Peabody from scoring so much.

Zhou mentioned how the team “[could have] won the game if [they kept their] consistency with both offense and defense.” She went further to explain that by simply thinking positive they were motivated to work better as a team and work harder on scoring. As a result, the team improved their score greatly in the third quarter and in the final.

Furlong mentioned how “the vibe was off on the court”. Bezzat agreed by stating “[the team was not] mentally ready to win, no one wanted it”. By critiquing and reviewing herself and the team, Bezzat is encouraging the rest of the team to improve and make sure they know what they’re improving on and how.

The post Girls’ Basketball Recap: 12/21 appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

Malden residents Fern and Ginny Remedi-Brown founded a non-profit organization called “Sowing Opportunities Inc.” and it consists of a board of directors, but is mostly run by the Remedi-Browns.

The Remedi-Browns started this project when their adoptive daughter wanted to reconnect with her biological mother in Guatemala. When the family’s associate and friend Ricardo traveled to the village, they found that it was destitute and forgotten by the Guatemalan government. Their daughter’s biological mother along with many others in the village were living with sickness and poverty. The Remedi-Browns found that a major issue in Chajmaic was that the river that the villagers used was contaminated with human waste, due to the villagers using the river for all their conventional needs.

Their mission became to create an environment for this community that allowed them to live free of poverty and sickness, but in a way that did not make them reliant on people such as the Remedi-Brown’s. They wanted to make the people in Chajmaic self-dependent. In response to this, the Remedi-Brown’s decided that the first step was to make sure that they could deliver clean water to them from the nearby river, el Rio Cahabòn, to the village. They believed that since most of the illnesses in the village came from the contaminated water, so if they were able to solve this problem, it would eliminate most of the disease in the community.  

Sowing Opportunities Inc. is also considering created and implementing project in which the villagers would be able to farm chili peppers to create a source of income.

Sowing Opportunities Inc. is much more than a non-profit organization; it is a remarkable way of instilling hope in the villagers of Chajmaic, but it is still far from finished. The Remedi-Browns require help in order to continue improving the lives of these people. They want help in the form of partners in Malden. The Remedi-Browns want people to be aware of not only their organization, but also of the problem itself. Spreading the word about unhealthy sanitation problems around the world is a key part of helping stop the issue. If you would like to help Sowing Organization Inc. or to learn more about the project, visit http://www.sowingops.org/en/ 

The post Introducing Sowing Opportunities, Inc. appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

New Year’s Resolutions are probably the most broken promises ever–we promise ourselves that we will eat healthier, drink more water, and go to the gym. We promise that we will pay more attention in class, and do all our work on time. Gym memberships go unused, Chinese food is ordered on an impulse, grades slip due to late work. In theory, New Year’s Resolutions are the best motivation–stemmed from the social construct of what constitutes as a year–beginning anew every 365 days. In essence, with a blank slate, everything can begin again, better.

Besides the hilariously common resolution of drinking more water, I had two real Resolutions, both of which, in the eleven days since 2017 evolved into 2018, have been fulfilled: doing all my homework the night before it’s due, going hand in hand with staying more organized.

In anticipation of my Resolutions, during a trip to Boston, I bought a 2018 weekly planner at Black Ink on Charles St. in Beacon Hill. It is a tiny book, easily kept in the compartments of my cluttered backpack. A world map stretches from cover to cover. I began writing in it on January 1st, writing all my homework from over Winter Break that I still had not begun. January 2nd came, my homework was done, my planner in the front compartment of my backpack.

I continuously write my homework in it, and actually complete it before school the next day–I have not had to scramble in the half hour I had before class started to write that essay, or do those notes. Organizing my homework in the planner, checking it off as I went, combined with my motivation to do better in school, have all made my 2018, all eleven days of it, a successful one.

Organization hasn’t extended very far into my life, reaching only the surface within the planner. My backpack is filled with floating papers, my locker contains unused notebooks and random books that I haven’t needed yet this school year. My room is cluttered with books I have and have not read, co-mingling with one another in crates with no rhyme or reason.

With one Resolution well into effect, another is suffering. Doing my work on time, and well, is a time-consuming activity, that leaves little time to organize my life. It seems as though I am constantly discombobulated. With the weekend slowly approaching, I feel as though this time can be filled not only with completing assignments in preparation for Midterms, but organizing my thoughts, my things, and doing so with time to spare.

New Year’s Resolutions require effort and motivation but can provide pride in oneself and a relieving of stress. My stress levels are much more balanced than before, though they have not reached the perfect height. Achieving these goals, fulfilling my Resolutions, is, in itself, time-consuming. Getting organized enough to allow my planner to be automatically filled with “to-do”s, my homework is done in a timely manner, will leave me with enough time to do the things I’ve missed most: reading books independently, relaxing, and going out.

All in all, I hope that my New Year’s Resolutions don’t just become another failed attempt at change. I hope that, in my months leading up to my senior year, that I can organize my life in such a way that my last year in high school can be as close to a breeze as possible.

The post How I’m Attempting to Stay Organized in 2018: New Years Resolution Eleven Days In appeared first on The Blue and Gold.

By Ronald Batista and Antonio Tarantino

The annual holiday food drive at the library was another success. The Malden Public Library’s annual canned food drive has once again brought joy and hope to the community of Malden. The drive was run by Tina Vegelante this year. The Food Drive has been taking place annually at the Malden Public Library for years.  It started for the thanksgiving holiday and it continued through December, in order for donators to contribute from Thanksgiving through Christmas.

Photo by Ronald Batista..

Vegelante said that the “library has a strong interest in being [apart] of the community”.  Apart from this food drive, the library also runs one that is for the salvation army here in Malden. 

The foods that are gathered go to the food pantry that the Salvation Army has, and maybe about 2-3 years ago they also started gathering ethnic foods too. Some of the foods are beans, soy sauce, noodle, etc.

Vegelante also spoke about how the food drive “adds to the holiday atmosphere here in the library”, and that it “brings a little of joy to the people who come in”. The library hopes to contribute to the festive atmosphere in the community, and have been surprised about the amount of food that comes in, commenting that “it’s been really amazing”.

Velegante said that “doing this comes from the heart, [they] just care about the community and want to be active in it”. The staff believes that this food drive is a great way to give back to the community and spread Christmas spirit.

For more information on future drives go to this link.

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