The Blue and Gold
maldenblueandgold.com
Malden High School
77 Salem Street
Volume 106 Edition 1 January 2021
WE ARE NOT ALONE
This article was written in May of
2020.
Sandra Rivadeneira
Print Editor-in-Chief
It was another day at work, one that
I complained about going to during
(what I didn’t know then) was
the last day of school. I was standing
at the register, waiting to ring up the
upcoming customer’s meal when
that customer started to make small
talk. Specifically, how Revere Public
Schools announced that they would
be closing their schools for a couple
of weeks due to COVID-19.
Later on that evening, I checked
my email to find a letter saying that
Malden Public Schools would also
be closing their schools for at least
two weeks for the same reasons. Like
most other students, this was bittersweet
news. Excited to be taking a
small break from junior year, to put
off the oncoming AP Language and
Composition research project, and
maybe even catch up on the work
I was behind in. Pretty bummed
that the spring sports season would
be postponed or that I wouldn’t be
able to see and chat with my favorite
teachers for a couple of weeks.
Then those couple of weeks
turned into a couple of months until
April 22nd when Governor Baker
made it official that all Massachusetts
schools would be closed for the
remainder of the school year.
Going into quarantine, I had
so many ideas of things-to-do, doing
what I thought was surely only
going to be two weeks. Going out
for runs, painting the pockets of
my jeans, reading some new books,
even maybe trying something with
my hair.
However, as quarantine progressed
I started getting sick of being
inside. I started to miss the daily
routine of school and the social atmosphere
so much more than I
expected. How was I missing something
that I would complain about
almost everyday? It was unexpected
for me but my mental health was
taking a hard punch.
I started feeling helpless as I
would see news everywhere of terrible
things due to the pandemic and I
felt like I could do nothing. It was to
a point where I started to lose sight
of the big picture and started feeling
small. This directly affected my mo-
Continued on page 3.
Malden Can
Conquer
COVID-19
This article was written and submitted
in April of 2020.
Mayor Gary Christenson
Guest Submission
Nor’easter? Salt, plow and
A we’re typically back up in a
few days. Budget shortfalls? Leave
vacant positions unfilled and we
can usually balance. COVID-19? No
playbook for this one.
I can still remember like it was
yesterday when I found out that the
Coronavirus was spreading. Not
having a plan to turn to we went with
pure instincts which was to make
sure our students were safe. That is
why the first decision we made was
to call off school until we knew just
what we were dealing with and the
state later followed suit.
But despite the sadness of the
past several weeks there has been
much to be thankful for as many
from within our community have
come together to help those in need.
From students making masks for
first responders and deliveries to
residents who can’t get out to businesses
like Pisa Pizza feeding our
frontline workers and Encore Boston
Harbor helping the Bread of Life
with donations of soap and shampoo
to the grassroots organization
called Malden Neighbors Helping
Neighbors who have called many
of our senior citizens to check in on
them, the spirit and resiliency of our
city has never been stronger.
I believe this spirit is what has
ultimately helped get us through
these unsettling times and without a
doubt will carry us forward into the
future.
2020 Class Valedictorian Jacky Luong
Page 8
2020 Class Salutatorian Rasmee Ky
Page 8
2020 Class Orator Thao-Mi Nguyen
Page 9
Mayor Gary Christenson speaking at
the State of the Malden City Address.
Photo taken from The Blue and Gold
Archives.
2
Special
Education
Students at
MHS return
In-Person
Kayley Glavin
Lead Reporter
With the COVID-19 pandemic
going on since March, online
school has been challenging, especially
affecting students in special
education classes. Life has been
hectic, but teachers are trying to do
all they can to offer help whenever
possible. They want to make sure
students who need special education
services have someone to talk
to and to help them.
Dana Marie Brown is the team
chair of special education at Malden
High School. Brown works with
Elizabeth Smith who is the program
manager. Both of their jobs entail
overseeing the teachers and students.
Smith explained how “neither
[her] nor [Brown] are actually classroom
teachers.” Through their job,
they “talk to all the teachers about
what is going on,” though most of
the teachers are partaking in remote
learning. A lot of their job consists
of paperwork and meetings as well.
Brown has worked at Malden
High School for about thirteen
years. She started as a teacher for
nine years before transferring to the
Beebe School, where she worked
with Special Education kids like she
does now in Malden. She stayed at
Beebe for two and a half years and
then came back to Malden High
this past January right before the
pandemic hit. Working at the elementary
school “made her miss the
high school.” She especially missed
those unique connections with high
schoolers that she couldn’t make
with younger kids. For example, she
could not have “those adult conversations”
or interactions on a “different
level.”
There are groups of students
that are coming to school physically
and are a part of the PACE
program, which is only about thirty
to forty kids. These students still go
in at 7:45 to 2:15, same as all Malden
High Students in all grades. These
students are in “real live classrooms
every day” but most of the people
in their classes are still at home
continuing with online learning.
Although some of the kids are participating
in in-school learning, they
are remote on Wednesdays.
Brown explained that not all
students have the option to go in.
Additionally, whether or not the
student “qualified” for in-school
learning due to having a “significant
disability” that required a more
hands-on approach influenced the
family’s decision on whether they
felt safe sending their child to school.
The school reached out to families at
home over the summer and again
later in October to discuss the plans
with them. The students are still being
taught by their regular teachers
when they come in every day.
Editor-in-Chief:
Julie Yu ‘21
Staff
maldenblueandgold.com
Web and Mobile Apps
Editor-in-Chief:
Jennica Ruan ‘21
Reporters
BLUE AND GOLD
Sarah Alves Marques ‘22
Amy Arrue ‘24
Rose Jean Charles ‘22
Nathan Dean ‘24
Melvin Delgado Melara ‘24
Jhechel Espiritu ‘23
Daniel Germano Moreria Martins ‘22
Alexey Mozyaev ‘21
Zachary Nedell ‘24
Daniel O’Toole ‘24
Renalda Simon ‘23
Renaldine Simon ‘23
Sorin Taylor ‘23
Hadjar Yousfi ‘24
Class Advisor:
Ryan Gallagher
Between the PACE Program
and its transition staff, there are six
different classrooms. Brown was
“very sure” that most of the Special
Education students that are in
school are thrilled to be back and
are looking forward to the rest of the
year. Brown asked students about
what learning format they like more
and most of them choose wanting
to be in school. She explained that
for most of the students it was “cool
to them” as in students to continue
to get the in-school experience. The
adults and parents often think their
kids are getting a better experience
from in-school learning.
“They have the whole school to
themselves,” Brown explained, “so
it is not as crowded as it usually is
when there are over 2000 [people].
There is a lot more room for them to
MEET THE
Print Editor-in-Chief:
Sandra Rivadeneira ‘21
Managing Editor:
Julie Huynh ‘22
Managing Editor of Print
and Design:
Lauren Mallett ‘22
Head of Sports:
Lulu Harding ‘22
Managing Editor
of Photography:
Liam O’Toole ‘22
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Lead Reporters
Chaimaa Assli ‘23
Carolina Cuevas ‘21
Gabriel Fesehaie ‘23
Julia Freitas ‘23
Kayley Glavin ‘23
Juliana Luong ‘23
Krishany Marius ‘23
Christopher McIntyre ‘22
Kaoutar Wakaf ‘23
Managing Editor:
Sandra Li ‘22
Managing Editor of Print
and Design:
Carlos Aragon Aldana ‘22
Head of Local:
Courtney Fitzgerald ‘22
breathe and spread out without the
many teenagers in the building.”
As far as personal relationships
with her students goes, Brown has
established many of them and it
happens to be the favorite part of
her job. One way she is able to keep
creating these bonds is lunch time.
A benefit of kids being in in-person
classes is that Brown can go to lunch
to sit and interact with the students.
She can talk with them prior to and
in between classes. The lack of students
at the moment “allows” her
to have more time to make more
relationships with students one on
one. She really enjoys building those
relationships over time and believes
a lot of teachers feel the same.
When the COVID outbreak
began in the United States in March,
Malden High put in effort to provide
help for their students, which
included “still getting classes with
their teachers,” Brown said. Students
were able to still meet with
their classmates, be part of their job
skill classes, receive speech services,
and therapy services.
Brown expressed how “amazing
of a job” the teachers did in
making individualized schedules
for each specific student.
For her, it has been “nice to be
back [for] the last few weeks.” Overall,
Brown and the other staff are doing
their best to settle in and figure
out how to make the situation work
as smoothly as possible. She hopes
families are staying safe and wishes
everyone else can be back soon.
This article was published on
December 4th, 2020.
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
WE ARE NOT
ALONE
Continued from page 1.
tivation to accomplish remote learning
assignments and I started falling
behind in class. Now, I’m definitely
a stubborn person and not the type
to admit to needing help, however it
got to a point where I had to.
In every email, Google Classroom
announcement, or Google
Meet, teachers made it very clear
that they were there for anything,
just an email away. To the extent of
my experience, teachers have been
very understanding and accommodating
to students’ needs. Rightfully
so, as these have been and continue
to be troubling times and one never
knows what it is like for the student.
In general, Malden High has
put in a lot of effort in supporting
its students during the early stages
of the pandemic. Meals that a lot
of families depended on the school
to provide were still provided with
social distancing. Breakfast and
lunch were available to be picked
up at Malden High location and the
Salemwood School for all families
of Malden Public School students,
and the student did not have to be
present.
Furthermore, when it comes
to the senior activities, I admire the
staff and faculty for the amount of
time and effort they put in to allow
seniors to be appreciated and still
get some sort of celebration, despite
the inconvenient circumstances.
They could have simply
apologized and cancelled the Class
of 2020’s graduation or have the
ceremony online like many other
communities did. On June 9th,
Christopher Mastrangelo officially
announced that an in-person graduation
ceremony would be happening
on Monday, August 3rd. They
found a way to make sure an inperson
graduation ceremony still
happened for these seniors before
they move on to the next chapter of
their lives, and found a way to do it
appropriately during the pandemic.
In addition, on the day that
their graduation was set on, May
30th, faculty members paraded the
streets of Malden to honk in celebration
to the seniors standing outside
their front doors in their caps and
gown. Surely, an event that required
a lot of effort to plan and to put in
motion.
Recently, after the death of
George Floyd and the riots and protests
that began to happen in every
state, it was no time to stay quiet
or feel helpless. I had teachers who
held Google Meets with the description
that they wanted to talk about
the trending news and wanted to
hear what students had to say. Others
post announcements in which
they expressed their feelings about
events and what they were doing to
assist the Black Lives Matter movement
and what students can also
do, linking petitions and suggestions
to movies and books and then
podcasts. Some teachers also came
Interactive
maldenblueandgold.com
January Crossword Puzzle
Collage of sports photographs. Photo taken from The Blue and Gold archives.
ACROSS:
7. The Paws and Purrfection company is located at
240 ___ street in Malden.
8. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the start time of
the _____ season has been altered.
9. Ana Pirosca stresses the importance of being
the _______ you want to see and being active in
the community.
11. Gregory Chau was also motivated by his
parents and wanted to make them _____.
14. According to Wu Zheng, a method of
__________ is another key point, because
having a positive mindset will always keep you
on track.
16. The OCRC values the ______.
17. Students are offered ____ positions in the
Adaptive Physical Education class.
18. What year of his schooling did Jinpeng Chen
realize what the essence of learning was?
19. What university is Ezra Kruckenberg planning
on attending (as an acronym)?
21. How did Thao-Mi Nguyen describe college?
22. The Special Education Parent Advisory Council
is in _____________ to make sure that no
parents feel alone and so they can talk about
their questions and concerns.
23. Christelle Jean is running unopposed for the
____ position.
Puzzle compiled by Juliana Luong and Lauren
Mallett.
all the way from their hometowns
to join in the march being held in
Malden on Friday, June 5th.
I’ve felt very supported by Malden
High staff since this change of
events started. It’s a new normal and
the transition was different for everyone.
For me, it was a little harder
than I expected. Teachers made sure
students knew they could reach out
to them whenever, faculty made
sure seniors were acknowledged
and still rewarded for their years of
effort, and if anything it made the
Malden High community stronger.
We began the school year with
the motto “You Are Not Alone.”
Faculty wore the words on t-shirts
during the first day of the school
year. It was said every day during
the morning announcements. It was
something that we heard whenever
we stepped foot into Malden High
that maybe some of us just dismissed
it. We are truly not alone.
Nobody could have predicted all
Clues are from articles in both the online
and print editions.
DOWN:
1. Lulu Harding drew the cover art for which
monthly playlist?
2. Michael Powell feels as if “one of [his] stronger
attributes [is he is] able to ________ with people
in a real way.”
3. What college (as an acronym) is Jacky Luong
attending as a freshman?
4. Malden High students celebrated bad ___ day
on Tuesday, November 24.
5. What club was Rasmee Ky the Vice President
of?
6. Having two part time jobs along with multiple AP
classes, what else did Angelina Schorr
participate in?
10. What is the name of the saxophone player in
Grand Army?
12. What is Ajithaan Sathiyendra considering for a
second major?
13. Malden High’s online Peer ____ Program
started on December 7th, 2020.
15. The Malden Teen _______ Center began to be
demolished in October of 2020.
19. Through whose eyes was Jake’s psyche
portrayed in I’m Thinking of Ending Things?
20. How many years in a row was Malden High
School awarded the Sportsmanship Honor Roll
in District 5?
3
of the things that have happened
since our last day of school on
Thursday, March 12th. But now,
almost three months later, I still feel
like my teachers care about me, not
just my academic success, but also
my all around well being. I’d like
to thank the Malden High faculty
for everything they have done and
the efforts they put in during these
unprecedented times in supporting
their students.
4
Editorial
maldenblueandgold.com
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
The Beginning of the
2020-2021 School Year
Needless to say, the 2019- Malden High community has been to step up and use their voices. We
2020 school year came to an so great in adapting to the changes are living history every day, both locally
unexpected abrupt end. Historical
change has been happening
everywhere everyday since. Due
to the COVID-19 pandemic, The
Blue and Gold had to adapt to a
new way of communicating and
reporting in order to continue to
contribute information and stories
for our community.
that have been brought upon us.
One of the largest and most exciting
aspects of student life here at Malden
High are sporting events. For
obvious reasons, the start time of
the sports seasons has been altered
various times. News that the city of
Malden had re-entered the Red Zone
in October has pushed back all three
and nationally. From the Black
Lives Matter protests in June of 2020
to Capitol attacks in January of 2021
our world is constantly changing
around us. As journalists we will
continue to try to do anything in
our power, with precautions, to be
able to cover them and ensure that
everyone is informed. The Blue and
The 2020-2021 school year of the fall, winter, and spring sports Gold is proud to be a platform for
has looked a little different. With
COVID-19 still at large, for the
safety of staff, students and their
families, Malden High began the
school year with remote online
learning. Having school from the
comfort of our own homes is not
that great at times, however, as
a student body we must power
through to complete what is surely
seasons. Timeline wise, everything
seems to be very up in the air.
We have had to put long time
traditions such as Pep Rally, Poetry
Out Loud, performing arts concerts,
the Thanksgiving Football game
between the Malden High and Medford
High and so much more on
hold. Performing arts classes have
been sending in recordings of them-
our reporters to be able to not only
write about these issues, but also
allow students to express and vocalize
their opinions to an audience
We are deeply saddened that
we were unable to complete our
final print editions during the 2019-
2020 school year, especially our
most important issue of the year, the
Graduation Edition, which would
to be a challenging yet historic selves and editing them together have included stories about Senior
school year.
Due to the many unique situations
that families’ in the community
may be encountering, the
administration has tried to make
certain aspects of the traditional
to create virtual performances, the
most anyone can do during these
times.
As for The Blue and Gold, we
plan to continue to produce our
content as we’ve done for over 100
Awards Night, the NHS Induction
Ceremony, Mr. MHS, Prom, and
other events that are considered
highlights of the school year.
Despite the difficulty in reporting
during current events, with the
structures of the school’s academics
years. Although circumstances struggle of conducting interviews,
more lenient and accommodat-
ing to individuals. This includes
fewer but longer classes during
the school day, the addition of an
asynchronous period in the middle
are very different, our reporters
are going to continue to conduct
interviews, search out stories, and
produce quality journalism about
Malden High and the city of Malden
the lack of local events, and cancelled
high school sports seasons,
we have made the decision to produce
this print edition because there
is so much to still be reporting on.
of the day, and the removal of during these historic times. We will Like previously mentioned,
midterms and finals for this school
year. If anything, the constant
changes and having to overcome
them together has made the sense
of community between students
and teachers stronger.
This new format has been a
very big change for everyone. The
adapt, focusing on a lot of digital
and social media work, as well as
producing some form of a print edition
and we will continue to write
stories that are important to us.
With all the current events that
circulate the media world, this is the
most important time for students
this year is nothing short of historic
and everything we publish in our
print edition we like to consider immortalized
for Malden High history.
We would like to dedicate this to
the class of 2020, who we could not
properly honor last year. With them
also the class of 2021 who has lost a
significant portion of their senior
year during the COVID-19 pandemic.
This edition is structured
as a traditional Graduation edition
to honor their accomplishments,
and alongside it we acknowledge
all the social and political change
that will forever be embedded in
U.S history. . We are incredibly
proud of all the hard work that
was put into this print edition and
consider it one of our most important
ones yet.
The Blue and Gold staff congratulates
you on making it to the
halfway mark of the 2020-2021
school year, and we wish you the
best of luck moving forward. We
hope you and your loved ones
stay safe, stay healthy and stay
inside!
Julie Yu
Editor-In-Chief
Sandra Rivadeneira
Print Editor-In-Chief
Nedlam’s
Corner
Nedlam’s Corner is a
safe space to ask about
anything you may be experiencing
in your life,
both academically and
socially. Nedlam is here
to offer advice. Although
I will know who wrote the
submissions, you are able
to opt out of having your
name reflected here.
To submit a question to Nedlam for
a chance for it to be answered in next
month’s edition of The Blue and Gold,
go to
maldenblueandgold.com.
Editorial Policy
The Blue and Gold is an open forum for
student expression. It is produced by students
for the school and the community. The views
presented in this paper are not necessarily those
of the advisor or the school administration. The
views presented in the editorials are those of the
editors-in-chief or guests. The goal of The Blue
and Gold is to inform and entertain students as
well as the community regarding issues that we
feel are important.
We strongly encourage readers to respond
to material printed in the form of signed letters to
the editors. No libelous, malicious, defamatory,
obscene, or unsigned material will be printed.
The Blue and Gold reserves the right to edit the letters.
Names may be withheld upon request. Not
all letters will be printed.
Although The Blue and Gold appreciates the
support of advertisers, we may refuse any advertisement
that violates the above policy or that
promotes products questionable to student use.
Any correspondence concerning this publication
should be directed to Mr. Ryan Gallagher’s
room in J387 or to his mailbox in the main office.
The Blue and Gold
c/o Malden High School
77 Salem Street
Malden, MA 02148
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Sandra Li
Managing Editor
The Malden Youth Civics Council
hosted a Racial Justice Forum
over a Zoom meeting where individuals
in the Malden community
had the opportunity to discuss a
variety of concerns involving racial
issues to local representatives, including
Mayor Gary Christenson, in
order to further highlight problems
that have been present within the
city.
Hossam Braer, who is the Vice
Chair, explained that the council initially
planned for this event because
with the recent killings of Black
Americans across the country, they
wanted to utilize this discussion to
“educate individuals about historically
racist tactics” that are used in
the United States to “suppress
African-American representation.”
On top of that, with local leaders being
present in the forum, the council
wanted them to be more transparent
on problems that are occurring in
the city so that residents can learn
“what steps local leaders are taking
in order to resolve these issues” so
members of the community do not
feel as if “their problems are [being]
swept under the rug.”
Braer believes that “you can
not and will not solve an issue you
do not believe exists,” and that to
be transparent, you need to “truly
acknowledge the issue at hand.” By
having this forum opened up to the
community, it would enable individuals
to be more informed about
how these issues have been “prominent
for so long now” with systemic
racism prevailing to this day.
Brandon Wong, who is the
First Chair, mentioned how even
despite Malden being such a diverse
city, there are still issues that need to
be addressed, especially “issues that
are not apparent to us” as we live in
it and “this is our norm.”
Adding on to that thought,
Minh Thu Do, the art coordinator,
believes that simply just “standing
and idling around” will not solve
anything as “speaking out is important.”
During the forum, many initiatives
were presented to the local representatives
including staff diversity
and representation. With Malden
being considered to hold one of the
most diverse sets of students, it was
highlighted that in the Malden Public
School system, there is actually
a lack of people of color acting as
teacher figures for students.
Attendees were able to hear
what steps Malden is taking to tackle
these problems including how
the city is planning to set up classes
Local News
maldenblueandgold.com
Malden Youth Civics Council
Hosts Racial Justice Forum
5
with the Malden Public School system
that are dedicated towards engaging
more students in becoming
teachers. Mayor Christenson mentioned
that by having these classes,
students of various groups are likely
to at least attend these classes and it
would inspire students of color to
pursue the career of teachers.
Braer expressed that the council
did like the approach that the Mayor
and the City of Malden was taking
as it was a “step closer in the right
direction,” however, they did feel
that along with this program, there
also needed to be a “change within
the school curriculum” to establish a
platform for “students and teachers
alike to talk about racial issues.”
In addition, the UniteMalden
2020 initiative was also brought
up which consists of five steps that
will be taken in order to handle the
problem of racial inequity. The steps
include declaring racism as a public
health crisis, establishing a police
department community review
board, funding a director that will
prioritize diversity and inclusion, a
‘diversity in hiring’ initiative, and
recognizing Juneteenth as an official
holiday in the city.
Wong felt that it was “good to
know” about what was presented
because “[he] now knows that there
are initiatives in place” that are being
formulated in order to address
the issues that were made during the
Black Lives Matter protests which
reveals “that their efforts were not in
vain.” But in spite of that, he further
said how “there are always ways to
get better” and ways to “improve
the current conditions in our community”
even if these developments
are “small incremental changes.”
Mayor Christenson stated that
there is a significance in engaging
young people in conversations
about race and racism because in order
to “effectuate positive change in
our community,” it is critical for the
younger generation to be included
in the process as their “voices [need
to] be heard and their experiences
shared.”
Do agreed that by allowing
young people in these discussions
to express both their concerns and
experiences, it facilitates for them
to “be exposed to these issues” so
that they can “work together to fix
them.”
All in all, the Racial Justice
Forum hosted by the Malden Youth
Civics Council enabled for members
of the Malden community to discuss
with local representatives a variety
of issues present in the city and address
certain initiatives that could
be taken in hopes of moving toward
a more equitable community.
6
National News
maldenblueandgold.com
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
A Recap of the
Sandra Rivadeneira
Print Editor-in-Chief
Since President Donald Trump’s
victory during the Presidential
Election in 2016, a lot has happened
in the White House. Trump won
306 electoral votes, more than the
required 270, though he lost the
popular vote by more than 2.8 million
votes to Hillary Clinton. The
United States gained its first president
without any military or political
experience.
During his presidency, President
Trump signed a travel ban of
refugees from Muslim-majority
countries, refused to condemn white
supremacists on live television,
won the Olympic bid to hold the
games in Los Angeles in 2028, went
through an impeachment trial, was
impeached but not removed, lead
the longest government shutdown
in history, was under question for
tax fraud, passed a stimulus check
bill as economic support during the
pandemic, banned transgender individuals
from joining the military,
withdrew the United States from
the Paris Climate Accord, spent over
240 days golfing and so much more.
In early June of this year, Former
Vice President Joe Biden won
the Democratic nomination, later
choosing Senator Kamala Harris
as his running mate. Senator Harris
is the first woman of color to be
nominated for national office by a
major political party. Along with the
White House, 35 seats in the Senate
and all 435 seats in the House were
up for election.
The 2020 Presidential Election
led to one of the biggest youthturnouts
in voting history, with the
hope that their votes will change
swing-states such as Pennsylvania
and Ohio or even change popular
red states into blue states, like Texas
and Georgia, for the first time in a
very long time. Many famous figures
used their platforms with an effort
to encourage these young voters
to submit their ballots and express
how big of an influence they can
have on the election.
Several of these popular figures
created voter-registration drives to
appease young and new eligible voters.
For example, popular Youtuber
David Dobrik held a Tesla giveaway
where anyone who showed proof of
being registered to vote, regardless
of political party, was able to join
the giveaway. New York Congresswoman
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez
held a livestream on the streaming
platform Twitch playing the popular
video game Among Us for the same
reason, to encourage new voters to
register and make a voting plan.
The media cautioned against
expecting a result by the end of election
night, since the COVID-19 pandemic
led to a much larger number
of absentee and mail-in ballots this
year. Considering the many different
ways of voting and the different
way each state handles them, a
significant amount of the numbers
that were being announced Tuesday
night were projected numbers. They
consisted of mostly in-person votes
with a small percentage of mail-in
votes that were already counted by
states that were allowed to open
them.
It seemed at the beginning
of the night that the electoral map
would look like a Republican red
wave and that most of the Democratic
votes would be seen later on
when the early votes were counted
and would have a huge impact on
the swing-states.
At 7:00 PM the first polls began
to close. President Trump won the
electoral votes of Indiana. His competitor,
Vice President Biden, won
his first victory in the state of Vermont
a few minutes after. Later in
the hour, Vice President Biden was
in the lead with 16 electoral votes
after his victory in Virginia, leaving
President Trump trailing him
with only 13 after his gain of West
Virginia.
By 8:00 PM, more state polls
closed. Biden was projected to take
victory in the states of Delaware,
New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode
Island and New Hampshire. Trump
was projected to win South Carolina,
Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri
and Kentucky.
The state of Delaware gave the
first piece of historical news of the
night. Sarah McBride was elected to
Delaware’s State Senate, making her
the first transgender State Senator in
the U.S. and Madinah Wilson-Anton
was the first elected Muslim state
representative, filling the position of
being the 26th Representative District
of Delaware.
In Missouri, Cori Bush became
the state’s first Black woman to serve
in the U.S House of Representatives.
She had previously lost the races for
the U.S Senate back in 2016 and the
Democratic Primaries for the House
of Representatives in 2018. However,
in August of 2020, she defeated
ten-term Representative Lacy Clay
in the Democratic Primaries of 2020
and proceeded to win the seat in the
House.
On Tuesday night, all eyes were
on Texas and Florida, as both were
big battleground states with a hefty
amount of electoral votes. Florida is
known for predicting the winner of
the election and has the most electoral
votes for a swing-state. Texas
has not been a blue state since 1976
when Jimmy Carter won it against
Gerald Ford, however, with the increase
of new voters, there is speculation
that it could turn blue once
again. Other key battleground states
were Biden’s birth state Pennsylvania,
Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin,
Arizona, North Carolina and Ohio.
By 9:00 PM, the polls that were
closing included states holding the
majority of the electoral votes. With
these polls closing, President Trump
gained the electoral votes of Oklahoma,
Arkansas, Louisiana, North
Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska,
Wyoming and South Carolina,
which added to a total of 92 electoral
votes. Vice President Biden gained
New York, New Mexico, Colorado,
and Minnesota which kept him in
the lead at 119 electoral votes.
The senate seat was flipped
in Colorado, with former Governor
John Hickenlopper defeating
Senator Cory Gardner for the seat.
Furthermore, Iman Jodeh became
the first Muslim state lawmaker in
Colorado, as she became the state
representative of the 41st District.
Oklahoma had elected Mauree
Turner to the State House, making
them the first Muslim to serve in
Oklahoma State Legislature. And
more historically, the first non-binary
state lawmaker in the U.S.
New York furthered the
number of significant wins, with
ex-middle school principal Jamaal
Bowman elected for the seat of New
York’s 16th District, NYC Council
Member Ritchie Torres winning the
House seat for New York’s 15th district
and Mondaire Jones succeeding
the House seat of New York’s 17th
District, making them, respectively,
the first Afro-Latino LGBTQ+ and
Black LGBTQ+ Congressman.
The state of Georgia will go
into a January run-off, with Democrat
Reverend Raphael Warnock
running against Republican Senator
Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Jon
Ossoff running against Republican
Senator David Perdue, both for a
seat in the U.S Senate. This January
election will ultimately decide
who has control of the Senate. Additionally,
Kim Jackson was elected
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
National News
maldenblueandgold.com
7
2020 Election
to Georgia’s State Senate, making
her the first LGBT+ State Senator in
Georgia.
Halfway into the hour, Texas
turned red again, with 49.4% in support
of Trump and 49.3% for Biden,
and Ohio took its swing-state status
seriously as it began to flip from
blue to red at the end of the hour
along with Kansas. Ohio is another
state that many people were paying
attention to considering its pattern
of no Republican President has ever
won without the electoral votes
from it.
In Kansas, Republican Representatives
Tom Cole and Markwayne
Mullin were reelected, in
addition to Democrat Representative
Sharice Davids for Kansas and
Deb Haaland for New Mexico.
New Mexico also elected newcomer
Republican Yvette Herrell to the
House. Hawaii made history by
electing its first native Hawaiian for
Congress, Democrat Kaiali’i Kahele.
With all of them taking a seat in the
House, that makes a record number
of Native lawmakers in Congress.
New Mexico being the first state
to elect all women of color to the
House.
By 10:00 PM, Biden collected
131 electoral votes and Trump had
89 votes. President Trump had
seemed to be taking the lead as
in-person votes came in, making
Pennsylvania a red state. Arizona
and Iowa numbers started to come
in and they were looking in Biden’s
favor. By the end of the hour, it
looked like the red sweep that was
predicted. Biden was holding the
lead with 118 electoral votes while
Trump was close behind with 105
electoral votes.
The closing of more polls by
11:00 PM gave more coastal states
to Biden, including California, Oregon
and Washington, which are
typically blue states. During this
time it appeared that Trump was
winning the popular vote but only
held 108 electoral votes, Biden was
still holding the electoral lead at 192
electoral votes. At that point, only
about 20% of mail-in votes had been
counted nationwide. States like
Wisconsin planned on staying all
night to get official numbers in by
5:00 AM. Pennsylvania has a law in
which their mail-in ballots were not
allowed to be opened till 7:00 AM on
Election Day and Pennsylvania was
a big focus state for Biden both as a
swing-state and his birth state.
On Wednesday, November 4th,
it was confirmed by the Associated
Press (AP) that Florida and Texas
were going to stay red for another
election, rewarding their electoral
votes to President Trump. The electoral
votes for the states of Michigan
and Wisconsin were awarded to
Biden, flipping these states that
were previously red during the 2016
election.
Arizona was projected to have
flipped from its traditional red to
blue and Biden picked up eleven
more electoral votes. In addition,
a Senate seat in the state was also
flipped to blue as ex-NASA astronaut
Mark Kelly defeated Republican
Senator Martha McSally. These
flips reflect how Arizona, and many
other traditionally red states, are
slowly becoming what is nicknamed
“purple states.” This simply means
that there is a rising number of blue
votes coming from an increasing
number of Latinos and Black community
voters and the growing
turnout of young voters.
Although this was all confirmed
by the AP, news sources
like CNN and The New York Times
were not officially projecting that
information on their own electoral
college maps, this being that Arizona
was not done with their counting.
The AP defended their race
call by claiming that the number of
votes left to count were not enough
to give President Trump the lead in
the state even if every single one of
them were for him. Those were the
last electoral votes to be reported
for a while, leaving Vice President
Biden with 264 electoral votes and
President Trump with only 219 electoral
votes.
The Trump Administration
pressed lawsuits against the states of
Michigan and Pennsylvania and additionally
demanded recounts from
the states of Wisconsin and Georgia.
When having a close race, like the
one this year, Georgia automatically
authorizes a recount because the
margin of difference was less than
0.5%. Wisconsin agreed, although
the recount changed nothing. Michigan
rejected the lawsuit, claiming
that there was not enough evidence
that there was any fraudulent voting
or fraudulent counting.
The country, and along with
the rest of the world, was left in
suspense for all of Thursday, as no
states had been officially called by
AP. On Friday, both Georgia and
Pennsylvania had been flipped to a
blue lead. The last time Georgia was
seen as a blue state was for Clinton in
1992. The flip in Georgia was largely
credited to Stacey Abrams and her
efforts against voter suppression
and her continuous outreach into
the Black community voters in the
state.
While ballots were still being
counted in Nevada, Georgia, South
Carolina, Pennsylvania and Alaska,
protests began to erupt all across the
nation. Some groups, including most
of the ones in Boston, were chanting
“count the vote,” something ballot
centers were already supposed to be
doing. Other groups were chanting
“stop the vote” in other parts of the
country. Counting every vote is the
fundamental basis of democracy,
which is what the United States was
founded on, so these protests were
an insight as to how divided and polarized
the country was becoming.
From what was already officially
called by the AP, the House
was going to be controlled by Democrats.
Who controls the Senate will
be determined by Georgia during
the run-off election of January 5th,
2021. The word historic is constantly
repeated because it is true. There
were a number of changes that happened
from the state level to the federal
level, an increase of representation
amongst government officials.
On Saturday at 11:25 AM, the
AP made the most important call
of the week. Pennsylvania finalized
their count which rewarded their
electoral votes to Biden, making
him the 46th President of the United
States of America. That makes Biden
the oldest president to ever step
into office; but more importantly, it
would make his running mate, Kamala
Harris, the first Black and first
Asian-American woman to be Vice
President. As President-elect, Biden
made promises to establish a CO-
VID-19 Task Force as soon as Monday,
November 9th, and to rejoin
the World Health Organization that
President Trump had withdrawn
from.
Celebrations were seen across
the nation. Crowds rushed to fill
the streets as the election results
were announced, most of them being
people who were not used to
waiting past November 3rd for the
official announcement of the President.
The slogan, “Settle for Biden”
was very popular across social
media, as Americans are reminded
that no politician is truly perfect.
Nevertheless, with all the changes
Americans have seen throughout
this election week, it is proof of the
power of democracy and that this is
the beginning of a new change in an
increasingly polarizing nation.
8
National News
maldenblueandgold.com
Blackout Tuesday
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Sandra Li
Managing Editor
On Tuesday, June 2nd, a virtual
action to protest against racism
and police brutality called Blackout
Tuesday, took place on various social
media platforms including Twitter
and Instagram. The action was
organized as a way to acknowledge
and bring change in policies in the
wake of the death of George Floyd.
The social media movement has
influenced organizations, brands,
the music industry, and individuals
all across the world to post black
squares with the hashtag #Black-
LivesMatter to collectively support
the Black community.
Blackout Tuesday was an initiative
to go silent on social media
in hopes of individuals to reflect on
current events and also to stand in
solidarity with the Black Lives Matter
movement. The social media movement
was originally established by
members of the music industry as
the industry has profited off from
black art and culture. Despite the
virtual movement originating from
the music industry, it spread to all
aspects of social media.
On Tuesday, particularly on Instagram,
feeds were swarmed with
black tiles. Although the image was
seen by many as a sign of solidarity,
others saw it as an act of silencing
voices. Many people voiced out how
the black tiles were only drowning
out crucial information. Not only
that, but those who were against
Blackout Tuesday were not pleased
by the silencing because silence is
not what the Black Lives Matter
movement is about.
Users on various platforms
further voiced out not to use the
hashtag #BlackLivesMatter because
people would not be able to find
important information regarding
protests, fundraising efforts, and
overall current events.
With that in mind, some have
also said that Tuesday was not the
most favorable day to go offline as
it was when primary elections were
taking place in nine states. Instead
of posting black squares, activists
have encouraged people to donate
to bail funds or other nonprofit efforts
and to also sign petitions that
are aimed at bringing justice to the
families hurt by police brutality and
helping protesters.
Others including the network
Nickelodeon, went off air for eight
minutes and forty-six seconds which
was the same amount of time that
police officer, Derek Chauvin, had
his knee on top of George Floyd’s
neck, that ultimately led to his death.
The network stopped its programming
to show their blacked
out commercial with Floyd’s words
“I Can’t Breathe” on it. Many have
praised Nickelodeon for airing the
commercial, while others have said
that it would frighten children.
Regardless, the network stood its
ground and acknowledged how
they must use their platform in order
to make sure voices are heard.
That being said, although
Blackout Tuesday had its good
intentions of raising awareness
and remembering victims of police
violence on social media, it was met
with backlash since it kept out vital
information shared under the Black
Lives Matter hashtag. The social media
movement has become a teachable
moment for many as activists
noted that black tiles will not be a
long-term solution towards ending
police brutality and ultimately systemic
racism in the United States.
Speak Up! Comic by Carolina Cuevas.
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
Poor Media Coverage on the Uighur
Muslims in Rehabilitation Camps
Kaoutar Wakaf
Lead Reporter
Lately the media has been so
focused on covering COVID-19
that we have failed to mention
things that would normally be talked
about. COVID-19 is obviously
an important issue that should be
discussed, however it should not
cause the world to turn their backs
on on-going problems.
The extensive press coverage
has caused panic and disturbed
people in their ability to educate
themselves about non-relating matters
such as the Uighur Muslims
in Chinese Rehabilitation camps.
Do you remember learning about
the holocaust? Well brace yourself
because what’s happening to the
Uighur Muslims in 2020 is a similar
situation to what happened about
75 years ago during WWII.
In these past years, China has
detained up to three million Muslims
in hopes of eradicating Islam
and its “extremist” beliefs. They are
being detained against their will
and stripped of their human rights.
Uighur Muslims need the world’s
help, however, the sad part is that
they are rarely discussed because
of China’s secrecy. Luckily more
than 400 pages of top secret Chinese
documents gave the world the ability
to understand what the innocent
Uighurs and other ethnic minorities
were going through behind closed
doors in the Xinjiang province.
According to the podcast called
“Why Don’t We Care About China’s
Uighur Muslims?” by Mehdi Hasan,
“The Chinese government has
claimed that the camps are merely
vocational training centers, but in
November [2019] a trove of leaked
documents, dubbed the China
Cables, confirmed what the world
had long suspected: the camps are
Communist Party re-education centers
in which Uighurs are forced to
abandon their traditional religion
and language.”
Even among all the terror and
chaos the world is facing throughout
this pandemic, China has refused to
close its “reeducation camps” where
Muslims are continuously being
persecuted. Human rights observers
from all over the globe have decided
to call them concentration camps
because of the similarities in treatment
the innocent Uighurs get to
Europe’s Jewish population during
WWII or to the “reeducation camps”
Native American children were coerced
into attending to make them
as “civilized” as the white man.
Sayragul Sauytbay, a Chinese
fugitive who managed to escape
China and go to court in Kazakhstan
to resist being returned into Beijing,
has since found refuge in Sweden
with her husband and two kids. Her
claims are very disturbing as she has
attested that one day, she along with
200 other men and women, were
forced to watch a woman get raped.
They could not help her, speak out,
or even close their eyes. The victim
could not make a noise either for
fear that they would kill her and her
family. This was not the first time
that it happened.
In the camps, they are force
fed pork and wine which go against
their religious beliefs, in hopes of
brain-washing them into leaving
Islam. Uighurs are not permitted to
pray, fast, read the Quran, wear the
headscarf, grow a beard, celebrate
holidays like Ramadan or Eid and
most of the time do not know where
their loved ones are or whether they
are safe or not. They even have to let
go of their culture. Uighurs are also
not allowed to celebrate their heritage
by wearing traditional clothes
or speak their own language.
If Uighurs refuse to follow
the rules in the reeducation camps,
officials use violent and severely
barbaric torture methods. Mihrigul
Tursun is an Uighur woman who
was detained in a reeducation camp.
According to “A tale of torture in a
Chinese internment camp for Uighurs”
by the U.S. Virtual Embassy
Tehran, “Mihrigul Tursun recounted
her horrifying experience in one
of China’s camps earlier this year.
She was drugged, interrogated for
days without sleep, and strapped
in a chair and jolted with electricity.
It was her third time being sent
to a camp since 2015.” Tursun told
reporters that she remembers interrogators
telling her “being a Uighur
is a crime.“
We have to recognize that this
is RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION, A
VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS
as well as CULTURAL CLEANS-
ING. Actions must be taken to put
this injustice to an end. We can no
longer stay silent and watch as the
Uighurs are facing severe oppression.
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Local News
maldenblueandgold.com
Malden Teacher Wins Massachusetts
Teacher of the Year Award
Sandra Rivadeneira
Hedrington remembered that “it’s till death do [them] part.” that you care.” As Qranfal describes,
Print Editor-in-Chief
they wanted to have an extra lesson Qranfal saw Hedrington as Hedrington makes sure to show that
When it came to receiving the on Sunday night, which she had forgotten
she agreed to. It is so mean-
[students] could confide in,” she “want to become better.”
“not only a teacher but someone she cares and makes her students
award for Teacher of the Year,
recipient Jennifer Hedrington was
confused.
Hedrington teaches seventh
grade math, previously at the Salemwood
School before recently
transferring over to the Ferryway
School. In October, she was awarded
ingful that they were seeking out
the opportunity for an extra lesson
when most students barely have the
motivation to get through their own
class during a regular school day.
Sepulveda characterizes Hedrington
as someone who’s “mind
continues to describe her former
teacher as someone with “a friendly
nature” who would “always [get]
everyone laugh.” As a student,
Qranfal believes that it is especially
important for a good teacher to be
someone who is also a friend and
What makes the Malden Public
School system unique to Hedrington
is “one-hundred percent, the
kids.” She loves how the city has a
“plethora of representation” and
that you can “see the whole world
in one little classroom.” Every one of
the Massachusetts Teacher of the is at a constant hunger to know Hedrington embodies that perfectly. their voices is very unique and each
Year 2020 award and will now be a more.” That is how Hedrington tries Some of Hedrington’s relationships
of them have something that they
contestant for the National Teacher to connect with her students beyond
with her students have can teach her and, as Hedrington
of the Year.
Hedrington did not prepare a
the classroom.
Hedrington takes time to learn
developed to very personal levels
throughout the years. Hedrington
puts it, they are all “mini people that
are developing into grown ups.”
speech for the meeting that would from every one of her students is a godmother to some of her student’s
Sepulveda expresses that the
announce the winner. Actually, she about the constantly changing
children, has helped one students have “such power in their
had to search up what a Teacher of
the Year Award was the night before.
She asked herself “why [is she]
getting an award for something [all
teachers] should all be doing?” and
still finds herself struggling with
that idea.
Ferryway School Principal
Abdel Sepulveda, who has known
Hedrington since 2010, sees Hedrington
as someone who is unique
world that they are growing up in.
When a student introduces a topic
that she’s not very educated about,
such as pronouns or cultures, she
asks them to teach her about it and
the conversation then opens up the
opportunity for her to be the student
and the kids to be the teacher.
Her efforts never go unnoticed.
Malden High Freshmen Sabrina
Qranfal, who previously had Hedrington
during the process of buying a car
and has even given loans to some of
her students to help them through
their first years of college. She sees
every student who has grown in her
classroom as “[her] kids” and that
she “[loves] them like they are [her]
own.”
Oteri explains that “anybody
can teach.” Teaching is not the difficult
part, being a good educator
hands.” Students, who are quickly
becoming young adults, are “speaking
their truth to the powers to be,”
in the real world. Sepulveda says
that sometimes that includes teachers,
yet it is in “a respectful way so
they can learn as well,” and so teachers
may take a similar approach as
Hedrington and be open to listening
to the conversations from the student’s
points of views.
for her consistent approach towards
during her years at the is a whole different story. “It takes One of the most prominent les-
all her students. “She connects with Ferryway School, describes the unique talents and passions that sons Hedrington has learned from
each and every one of her students
on a personal level,” Sepulveda
explains, “she brings to her teaching
not only her knowledge of the
content but her content to life.”
However, being an educator is not
simply about the teaching, an educator
should be someone who can
connect with their students as well.
environment of Hedrington’s classroom
as one that “makes [anyone]
feel safe and accepted the moment
[they] walk in.”
By going the extra mile, Qranfal
recounts how Hedrington made
the “learning process exciting” and
something students would “willingly
want to participate in.” Qranfal
cannot be taught,” Oteri describes,
“to be an educator is really meeting
kids where they are, taking them
to their potential, connecting with
them, being a voice for them in and
out of the classroom.”
To him, Hedrington is an
extraordinary example of that, as
she is a role model to a lot of the
her open students is that “life is not
stagnant.” As she has seen classes
of kids go through her classroom
through the years, and seeing them
again when they come back to
visit, she’s learned that one does not
“have to remain the person [they]
are at [that] moment,” and that everyone
“can learn and can grow to
Sepulveda describes some of describes Hedrington as someone students that she has had and Oteri be more.”
the best teachers he has known as
the ones who see the student as
“more than just someone learning
who has the power to “make a least
favorite subject become something
[someone can] look forward to.”
describes it as something that comes
“quite [naturally] for her. Growing
up in Malden himself, he knows
Oteri believes that people do
not “truly value educators enough
in society.” Sepulveda supports,
a subject.” Hedrington goes above Hedrington believes that the how important it is for teachers to saying that although “society does
and beyond to show that she cares.
She tries to see her students beyond
the academic score and instead for
who they are as individuals. Malden
Public Schools Superintendent John
biggest achievement in her career
is not the recent award, instead it is
“hands down the relationship [she
has] built with her students.” Every
year, one first day of seventh grade
make learning fun and connect it to
real life and the real world.
“[Teachers] are in the people
business,” Oteri explains, “the kid
doesn’t care about what you know
try” having an acknowledgment
and appreciation for educators more
often is extremely important, as he
describes it as “one of the hardest
jobs there is.”
Oteri describes Hedrington as a math with a new class, she tells them and what you teach until they know Any good educator does more
“trailblazer,” and someone
than just grade papers
who “is an advocate
and plan lessons. They
for her students both
work late, work weekends,
in and out of the classroom.”
even spend their
summer breaks taking
“At the end of the
professional development
day [students] spend
courses, all in the
eight hours with strangers,
good spirit of becoming
we are no longer
better for their students.
strangers,“ Hedrington
When Hedrington
expresses. She believes
asked herself “what did
that all teachers should
[she] do to get the Teacher
put an effort to reach out
of the Year award?”
beyond the classroom.
She “sees [herself] as just
That’s why when it
a teacher, and so [she]
comes to her students she
teaches.” Hedrington
“tries not to put a barrier
does so much more than
between [herself] and
that, and so does any
them.”
good educator. They are
Hendrington recalled
never just teaching. As
one Sunday night
long as a teacher goes the
when she was lounging
extra mile to show that
in her room, enjoying
students they care, reach
some well deserved relaxing
out to support, and strive
time, when she got
to connect, a student will
a message from a student
always remember and
saying, “Hey Miss, aren’t
appreciate that.
you getting on?” Massachusetts Teacher of the Year Award Recipient Jennifer Hedrington. Photos submitted by Hedrington.
9
10
Class of 2020 Profiles
maldenblueandgold.com
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Valedictorian: Jacky Luong
Courtney Fitzgerald
Head of Local
Jacky Luong’s senior portrait. Photo
submitted by James Valente.
Jacky Luong, now a freshman at
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT), recently graduated
from Malden High School. Luong
graduated top of his class and had
previous accomplishments in high
school, including being senior Class
President.
Before being President, Luong
had been the Treasurer for the Class
of 2020 and “felt invested in being
part of the group of students that
put together the fundraisers and
work that would contribute to the
ultimate prom,” which had made
him confident in his decision to become
president.
In his sophomore year, Luong
competed in a robotics competition
known as “Botball” in which
the team placed fifth. His junior
year included a math competition,
which was the first math competition
for Malden High, where he
received the top individual score of
the day. Luong was also a part of
the YMCA Leaders Club, where he
was the secretary and helped plan
and fund a Masquerade Ball. In the
next Botball Luong and the Robotics
Club participated in, they placed
first. Luong had also been a part of
the winning tennis team at Malden
High his junior year as a first-year
varsity player.
When Luong found out he was
going to be Valedictorian the first
thing that went through his mind
“was the realization that [he] was
going to have to write a speech.” He
had never thought about having to
write a speech hoping that later it
would “just come to [him].” Luong
had mentioned that every bit of time
spent working toward being Valedictorian
and Class President was
worth it in every way. He stated that
“the work [he] put into [his] classes
and extracurricular activities and
personal endeavors got [him] into
MIT.”
His favorite part of high school
was the people. Luong stated that
“it was the people who made [his]
high school experience memorable
and enjoyable.” Whether it was
the tennis team, the people in the
clubs he was a part of, “the great
teachers [he] had his four years at
Malden High” or the people he met
in his classes. High school for many
people comes with regrets, but for
Luong there were no regrets his four
years at Malden High. Luong felt
that by doing things not “just for the
resume” he was able to keep himself
interested and be part of everything
he wanted to be in high school.
Photos
Via Instagram
and
The Blue
and Gold
archives.
Salutatorian: Rasmee Ky
Lulu Harding
Head of Sports
Ranking second out of her class,
Rasmee Ky’s achievements have
led her to attend the world-renown
Harvard University. So far, given
the current circumstances and the
pandemic, the experience has been
going well for her.
Right now, all of Ky’s classes
are online. Despite this virtual format,
she explained that “the content
of [her] courses has still been very
engaging, and all the professors
are both incredibly knowledgeable
and very approachable.” She has
been able to get involved with the
school in other ways as well, such as
debating with the Harvard University
Debating Union and beginning
the process of joining the Editorial
Board for The Crimson which is a
major student-run newspaper on
campus.
Compared to her junior and
senior years of high school, Ky said
that she has been taking things pretty
easy. She stated that “I have more
time to sleep and go for jogs in the
morning,” something that proved
more difficult to keep up with at
Malden High.
While still at Malden High, Ky
was involved in a wide variety of
extracurricular activities. She was
the Youth Lieutenant Governor of
Massachusetts for a program run
by the YMCA (“Youth and Government”),
Vice President of the Psychology
Club, a student ambassador
for Summer Search, vice-chair of the
Malden Youth Civics Council, and
ran cross country for three years.
Something she became passionate
about in high school was the
Speech and Debate team, which she
was a part of for all four years. “[She]
cared a lot about trying to improve
the team, and [helped] coach [the]
teammates to the best of [her] ability.”
She added that advisers Kurtis
Scheer and Patrick Finnegan were
always incredibly supportive of the
Speech and Debate team, which has
helped her grow.
The students at Malden High
have also had a big impact on Ky.
She is grateful for the numerous
perspectives and life experiences
they have shown her, as well as the
safe environment where students
could openly share and accept each
other’s differences. Being in this
type of environment has taught her
to never make assumptions about
other people. Everyone’s lives “can
be so drastically different, but at the
same time, we also share many of the
same hopes, fears, and values that
always make empathy possible.”
While Ky is incredibly thankful
for everything the Malden High
community has done for her, her biggest
inspiration and motivation has
always been her family. Her parents
have always provided her with “all
the support [she] ever needed,” and
she explained how “their perseverance
in the face of adversity reminds
me to always devote my full effort
to my goals. All [she wanted] to do
is make the most out of all the blessings
[her] family has given [her].”
When applying for college,
something that proved to be extremely
stressful was the application
process. “[She] applied to 18
colleges because [she] wanted to
aim for selective schools, but [she]
doubted that [she] would actually
get accepted to most of the schools,”
Ky explained. “Thankfully, [Ky] had
support from Bottom Line, Summer
Search, and the staff at [Malden
High] throughout [her] application
process.” Luckily for Ky, everything
ended up working in her favor,
since she now attends one of the
most reputable schools in the world.
When asked about any advice
she would want to give to her
younger self or things she wished
she had done, Ky said that she
wouldn’t want to change anything.
She explained that she had her fair
share of mistakes and she did things
that she ultimately regrets, but after
spending time reflecting on her
high school career she realized that
the “most important lessons that
[she has] learned came from [her]
missteps.” She expressed that “no
advice can be nearly as impactful as
actually going through the experience
of failing or making a wrong
choice.” She continued adding that
“in the long run, everything will
turn out fine as long as you keep
learning and growing every step of
the way.”
As for the future, Ky does not
have a decided career path that she
wants to take yet, although she is
certain that Harvard will open up
many possibilities for her as she
continues to explore various classes,
clubs, and talk to as many new
people as she can. She has been considering
a major in either economics
or statistics, which she mentioned
were two of her favorite subjects
while in her senior year at Malden
High. Ultimately, Ky hopes that “in
the future, [she] will be able to take
all the lessons [she has] learned both
in high school and in college and
put them all towards a career that
will give back to the world.”
Rasmee Ky’s senior portrait. Photo
submitted by James Valente.
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Class of 2020 Profiles
maldenblueandgold.com
11
Orator: Thao-Mi Nguyen
with other people and get to know allowed to visit the campuses. After
them, even if they did not seem to a lot of consideration, she ended up
click initially. Her experience with choosing Northeastern, which was
the sport in high school helped her actually one of her first acceptances.
when she arrived at college because So far, Nguyen described college
even with the pandemic, she has
as being a “whirlwind” and
had the opportunity to meet people “definitely different from what [she]
from all over, and Nguyen thought expected.” Northeastern is currently
that “having that group of friends in
doing a hybrid model, with
high school helped [her] learn how in-person classes on certain days
to socialize with other people.” and remote classes on others. She is
In addition, LMC was a really
currently living on campus, but gets
impactful experience for her to go home for the weekend because
because it “taught [her] that [she] of the close proximity. Even though
loved collaborating with others” the course load was “overwhelming”
and working with kids, which in
for her at first — especially
turn influenced her career path as since she is in the Honors Program
she plans on becoming a physician — after a few weeks, she was able to
or healthcare worker that deals with get into the hang of things and balance
children.
her work.
She is currently studying Looking back, Nguyen thought
health sciences at Northeastern and that her freshman year self would
is on the pre-med track. She expressed
be surprised at where she ended
that a healthcare career was up, mostly because Northeastern is
“always in the back of [her] mind as such a contrast from Malden High.
[she] went about exploring different Although much larger, it still has
options in high school.” However, some of that diversity that MHS is
Nguyen said she is “open to other known for, which she appreciated.
careers in the healthcare field,” and Her freshman year self would be
is not entirely sure at this moment if proud of “how much more confident
she wants to attend medical school,
and outgoing” she is, but also
but it is definitely on the table. She acknowledge that she “still [has] a
pointed out that she believed it is long way to go before [she] becomes
a misconception that many people the person that [she’s] always wanted
have that “once you reach college
to be.”
[you are] supposed to know exactly She wished that she could
what you want to do.” Nguyen sees tell her younger self to start early,
college has a great place to get the because she thought back to when
experiences you need in order to she was still writing supplementary
determine what kind of future you essays over winter break, which was
want to invest in.
“not good at all.” Most of all, though,
Nguyen recalled the college she wanted her past self to stop
application process as being difficult
comparing herself to other people.
for her because of how inde-
Watching all those Youtube videos
cisive she was. She remembered not of college acceptances only made
submitting her deposit fee until the her more nervous about where she
very last day, something that she would end up. Now, she feels that
does not recommend doing. She you’re going to end up where you’re
was originally debating between supposed to. Even if you might not
Northeastern and another school, be thrilled about your decision at
and it was especially hard because first, you will get used to the environment,
of the pandemic as you were not
because “you really don’t
Julie Huynh
Managing Editor
“
I [do not] think any of us could
have predicted a year quite like
this,” stated Thao-Mi Nguyen in her
graduation speech. Nguyen graduated
from Malden High School this
past summer, along with the rest of
the Class of 2020.
Unlike the classes before hers,
her senior year was cut short due
to the pandemic. When she found
out that school was moving online
and prom was canceled, she was initially
disappointed, like many of her
classmates. Nguyen remembered
looking forward to prom since her
freshman year, but at the same time
she thought that “the pandemic
actually gave [her] a lot of time to
think about how [she] wanted to be
in college” and to focus on herself
for a bit. A part of her was glad that
she did not have to deal with the
stress of the end of senior year activities,
even though she was dismayed
that she did not get a chance to say a
proper goodbye to the staff and her
friends at the school.
Some of the particular staff
members that left an impact on
Nguyen were Jennifer Clapp, Ryan
Gallagher, and Maggie Giberson.
She felt like she “learned how to
become a better communicator”
and writer in their classes and even
mentioned Ms. Clapp in the opening
of her speech at graduation. Not
only was she able to become a better
student, but their guidance and
mentorship helped her “be more
confident in who [she] was as a person”
as well.
During her time at Malden
High, Nguyen played field hockey
for three years, and was a part of
the Asian Culture Club and Leadership
and Mentoring Club (LMC).
When she first entered high school,
she never thought that she would
do a sport, but joining field hockey
helped her learn how to connect
know what college will be like until
you experience it yourself.”
Nguyen remembered having
this dream school in mind and
thinking if she did not get in, then
she would be super unhappy, but
after choosing the college that she
went to, she is “way happier than
[she] thought [she] would be, even
if it [was not] where [she] expected
to end up.”
Photos submitted by Thao-Mi Nguyen.
Number Four: Ajithaan Sathiyendra
Jennica Ruan
Web and Mobile Apps Editor-in-
Chief
Ajithaan Sathiyendra has ranked
fourth in his class as a Malden
High graduate for the Class of 2020.
Not expecting the news, he was “really
surprised when [he] found out
[he] made it on the Top 10 list.” He
stated “[he was not] aiming to place
in a high rank” and “took classes
that [he] found interesting and challenging.”
He believed this “motivated
[him] to do [his] best.”
He is proud of how he balanced
“enough time between schoolwork,
extracurricular activities, and learning
on [his] own.” Sathiyendra
made time to learn about stuff he
found interesting outside of school
which “helped build [his] interest in
Computer Science and Math.”
Sathiyendra was also involved
in many extracurriculars throughout
high school. He was a part of “Computer
Club, Math Team, Badminton
Club and Science National Honor
Society.” He also had leadership
positions his senior year as “the Vice
President of the Badminton Club
and Secretary of Science National
Honor Society.” It was difficult for
him to balance “extracurriculars on
top of school.” Making time to finish
his work was a challenge but, “[he]
made sure to keep track of all [his]
assignments and their due dates so
that [he can] work on it ahead of
time.”
He explained how Paul
Marques, a computer science and
math teacher, had “a huge part in
helping [him] succeed.” Marques
encouraged him to “learn on [his]
own at a faster pace” which helped
him discover his interest in computer
science. Sathiyendra learned how
to prepare for college and the real
world through Marques’ teachings,
reminding him that “‘[his]
education is [his] responsibility.’”
He encourages the current
Malden high class’ to “build connections
with teachers and staff to
have people you feel comfortable
talking to.” He also hopes students
”make use of all the resources
MHS provides.”
Although the school year had
not ended the way he expected,
“[he] felt that the past four years in
high school had gone by very fast.”
He is grateful for all the activities
and events throughout high school
and is “looking forward to starting
a new chapter.“
He is attending the University
of Massachusetts Amherst
as a computer science major and
considering a second major in
mathematics.
Ajithaan Sathiyendra’s senior portrait.
Photo submitted by James Valente.
12
Class of 2020 Profiles
maldenblueandgold.com
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Liam O’Toole
Managing Editor of Photography
Wu Zheng was among the Top
10 students of the class of
2020 at Malden High School. When
Zheng was applying for colleges
through Naviance, the website told
him his rank, which was how he
learned that he was within the Top
10. He says that when he found his
rank, he did not know what it was.
Zheng “viewed it as [his] work being
valuable.” He remembered not
thinking about it too much, because
other people must have put in the
same work. He recalls how nice it
was “to see that the effort [he] put in
mattered and came back positively.”
So far, Zheng says that being
ranked within the Top 10 has
not affected much of his life after
high school. He understood his
own experiences and felt “like [he]
did deserve [his] place.” He recalls
needing lots of hard work, luck and
supportive people. A method of
relaxation is another key point, because
having a positive mindset will
always keep you on track.
One thing that helps him keep
a positive mindset is to realize
that grades are not everything. He
said, “there are other things that
require the same amount of attention.”
What Zheng meant is being
involved in extracurriculars and
things of that sort. He was a part of
multiple clubs including the Fine
Arts Club, Computer Club and as a
senior, the Math Club. Through the
Math Club he was even able to go to
competitions. Zheng was also in the
YMCA leaders and did volunteer
work. He enjoyed volunteering and
it provided him opportunities to
meet new people and “gave [him]
something to do.” A lot of his work
outside of school mattered and had
an effect towards his rank.
One thing that is affecting
Zheng based off of one of his interests
in high school was computers.
He took many computer science
classes in high school, along with
Number Five: Wu Zheng
the club, and is now taking more
computer science classes in college.
The classes he currently takes”are a
lot different and are more difficult
than [he] anticipated.” He said they
act as a measure to get into a major
which is the difference between his
current class and what he took in
highschool, along with the added
difficulty of it all.
Luckily for Zheng, his classes
through high school, and now in a
way, paired up pretty well with his
hobbies. During his free time, he
likes to draw, code, watch youtube
and play video games. Granted,
most of these hobbies paired up best
with his computer and art classes,
Zheng still found it rather favorable.
Even though in Zheng’s eyes,
grades are not everything, his
classes did weigh in heavily when it
came to his rank. He took “mostly
honors classes, with a few APs here
and there.” All his core classes were
honors along with the AP classes he
took throughout the years including
“AP computer science, AP calculus,
AP latin [and] AP physics.”
One thing to grasp from Wu
Zheng’s words is that a lot of the
time it is easy to get caught up in
the bigger picture when you would
rather be focusing on the smaller
moments.
Wu Zheng’s senior portrait. Photo
submitted by James Valente.
Number Six: Angelina Schorr
Sandra Rivadeneira
Print Editor-in-Chief
On top of her list of many
achievements, graduate Angelina
Schorr can add being ranked
number six in her class as one of
them.
During her time at Malden
High, Schorr was heavily involved
in various groups such as National
Honor Society, the Malden Against
Cancer club, the Maldonian Yearbook
staff, Captains’ Council and
Unified Basketball. On top of all
that, Schorr was also a three season
athlete, taking part on the soccer
team, indoor track team and the
outdoor track team.
During the 2019 Winter Season,
which would have been the last
athletic season that she participated
in, Schorr was a runner in the Girls
4x400 Relay which took a big part
in assisting the Girls Indoor Track
Team to finish the season undefeated.
That season the team was able to
reclaim the title of Greater Boston
League (GBL) Champions after their
return from the Eastern Conference.
Additionally, the 4x400 relay team
that Schorr was a part of were recognized
as GBL All-Star teams.
In hindsight, Schorr believes
that her “biggest achievement in
high school [was] managing [her]
time really well.” While being heavily
involved in all her extracurriculars,
Schorr balanced two part-time
jobs, one as a cashier in a grocery
store and another as a babysitter,
took various AP classes, yet still
found the time to volunteer in programs
outside of school.
However, having all these
things on her schedule was not an
easy task. Schorr considered “trying
to make time for it all” as one of the
hardest things about high school.
“There were feelings of being overwhelmed
and exhausted,” she described,
“and the self-doubt about
whether or not [she] could do it.”
Nevertheless, Schorr genuinely
enjoyed everything she did and sees
being heavily involved in a variety
of in-school plus out-of-school activities
as a factor in “[shaping] [her]
into the person [she] [is] today.”
When finding out that she
made top ten in her class, she felt
proud, expressing how it “felt really
good to be able to work hard and
climb up” and be rewarded for all
her sacrifices. Her parents shared
that feeling, especially since her father
was top ten in his high school
and was able to bond over that kind
of unique accomplishment with his
daughter.
Along with her parents, Schorr
credited English teacher as well as
track coach, David Londino, for
helping her in her success thus far.
Not only did he help her grow as
an athlete and a student, but as a
person. “Londino was the teacher
[she] would always go to,” Schorr
expressed, whether it be for help in
school, a good laugh on a bad day,
or advice about life in general, she
found comfort in talking to her former
mentor. Other previous teachers
that Schorr credited for helping
her grow during her years at Malden
High include Yahaira Márquez, Erin
O’Brien-Mazza, Shannon Votaw,
Brian Morrison, James Valente and
The Blue and Gold’s own advisor,
Ryan Gallagher.
Her senior year did not end in
its anticipated way, nevertheless,
Schorr sees herself “ready to move
on from high school and start [a]
new chapter in [her] life.” She advised
current Malden High students
to “take these years of [their] life to
work hard, figure out the kinds of
things [they] like, enjoy [themselves]
in and outside of school.”
Beginning in Spring of 2022,
Schorr will be attending Brown University
in Providence, Rhode Island.
Her current plan is to study biomedical
engineering which will lead
into working as a clinical researcher.
That will involve “trying to understand
how diseases affect the body
and how to cure and/or treat them,”
she explained.
Schorr remains optimistic
about her future, and is “excited for
everything [she] has yet to accomplish.”
As she begins to continue her
journey, she is also grateful for the
lessons Malden High has taught her.
Number Seven:
Gregory Chau
Gregory Chau’s senior portrait. Photo
submitted by James Valente.
Angelina Schorr’s senior portrait.
Photo submitted by James Valente.
Carlos Aragon Aldana
Managing Editor of Print and
Design
Chau graduates from Malden
High School as one of the top
students in his class, a remarkable
feat. When he found out, he was
quite happy, as he worked hard
throughout his entire high school
career to achieve this. When asked
what drove him, he stated that he
simply was always trying to find
where he stood. He was also motivated
by his parents and wanted to
make them proud. Currently, Chau
is attending Bentley University and
is studying accounting.
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Number Eight: Jinpeng Chen
Sandra Li
Managing Editor
Jinpeng Chen, a graduate of Malden
High, accumulated great
experiences that have changed
his outlook and is one of the top
academically ranked students in the
class of 2020.
A well-rounded student, Chen
participated in various extracurricular
activities all throughout high
school. He competed in track and
cross-country, helped start the Guitar
Club, and was an officer for the Y
Leaders Club. Outside of school, he
also took part in programs including
Summer Search and a pre-college
program for a cancer biology course
at Brown University. One of the major
life lessons that he has learned
from these outside experiences
includes patience. Chen explained
that before, he was an individual
who would want to act immediately
and solve problems. However, he
has recognized that “sometimes
you cannot rush, you have to go
through the process.” Chen further
added that most of the insight and
the philosophy that “[he] has for
life are from personal experiences
like these” as they had an influential
impact on him.
As far as hobbies, he enjoys the
thrill of running. “Running helps to
release the stress from academics,”
said Chen. In addition, playing the
guitar is another hobby for him.
Chen noted that one of the more
memorable moments for him in
high school was his injury. He explained
that the guitar was one of
the ways he could get through this
difficult time because playing the
guitar is “like a portal where you
are separated from all the world of
responsibilities.”
Academically, Chen pushed
himself to take a variety of rigorous
courses as having taken a total of 13
AP classes along with some Bunker
Hill Dual Enrollment courses. He
explained that in his family, “education
has always been prioritized”
however, at the time “[he] cared
more about grades rather than
learning itself.” It was not until his
Julie Yu
Editor-In-Chief
Ezra Kruckenberg is a graduate
from Malden High School’s
Class of 2020. Although his senior
year was cut short in a unique way,
he finished
his high
school
career having
ranked
as tenth in
Ezra Kruckenberg’s senior
portrait. Photo submitted
by James Valente.
his whole
grade.
During
his time
at Malden
H i g h ,
Kruckenberg
was
Class of 2020 Profiles
junior year where Chen realized
what the essence of learning was.
He emphasized how education is
more about what you “obtained in
learning” and then applying it to the
real world.
Chen credited Latin teacher Julie
Fox, science teacher Jessica Webber
and computer science teacher
Paul Marques, as all having been
“gamechangers for [him] and [his]
highschool career” because they
were major motivators and also
acted as mentors as well.
After having been accepted
into institutions including Boston
University and Brandeis University,
Chen is currently attending Tufts
University. With great opportunities
ahead of him, he decided on
Tufts because he saw the university
as “a great jumping board for the
next stage” and overall enjoys the
environment because it “gave the
same sensational feeling for when
[he] was at Brown pre-college.”
Currently, Chen is undecided, but
is leaning towards majoring in Biochemistry
or something within the
STEM field. In the future, he hopes
to either become a primary care doctor
or a specialist as certain personal
experiences have “motivated [him]
to do biochemistry and go into the
medical field.” With that said, Chen
“hopes to become somebody who is
useful and contributes to society” in
terms of utilizing science towards
creating a more equal world.
Jinpeng Chen’s senior portrait. Photo
submitted by James Valente.
maldenblueandgold.com
Number Nine: Ana Pirosca
Lauren Mallett
Managing Editor of Print and
Design
In a class of over 400 students,
graduating in the top 10 is an exceptional
feat. Ranking at number
nine, Ana Pirosca, a class of 2020
graduate and the former Blue and
Gold Editor-in-Chief, was one of the
few to achieve this impressive accomplishment.
To her, being at the top of the
class “[does not] feel any different,”
as she sees it as just a number. For
Pirosca, self satisfaction was the end
goal of her achievement. Knowing
that she could “prove to [herself]
that out of everyone [she] can be [in]
the top ten” means knowing that she
tried, and that is what matters most.
Pirosca was very involved in
the Malden High community during
her four years at the school. She not
only wrote for The Blue and Gold
her whole high school career, but
was also the Head of Multimedia
her junior year and Editor-in-Chief
when she was a senior. Her time on
the newspaper staff taught her many
things, including that “aside from
wanting to be there for other people,
[she] needed to be there for [herself]
too.” She had “a really strong connection
to the people” who took the
class with her, and says that looking
back on what she will miss, “[is] obviously
[The] Blue and Gold.”
There were many other extracurricular
activities that Pirosca was
involved with, including Women in
Science, Psychology Club, Malden
Overcoming Addiction, Peer Leadership
for World of Difference, and
many more. She was a very active
participant in the Malden community
and finds it important for everyone
to “get involved somehow.”
Encouraging students to enjoy
their time at Malden High, Pirosca
stresses the importance of being the
change you want to see and being
active in the community.
Pirosca now attends Boston
College (BC). She was originally unsure
if she wanted to attend BC but
ultimately decided to because “[it is]
Number Ten: Ezra Kruckenberg
heavily involved in school athletics.
He was an outstanding student
athlete, being a member of the Boys
Varsity Indoor Track and a state
qualifier for the high jump multiple
times. He was also captain of the
Varsity Baseball team for the season
that got canceled.
Kruckenberg was very involved
with the community, taking
part in service projects as an Eagle
Scout and serving as President of
the National Honors Society during
his senior year.
As for his plans after high
school, Kruckenberg has been accepted
into Brigham Young University
(BYU). Before he attends,
however, Kruckenberg is serving
on a two-year religious service mission
in Puerto Rico. His service in
Puerto Rico will be to help out the
nearby communities and teach the
doctrines and principles of the gos-
13
more so about the people” there, as
well as focusing on what you can do
for yourself and your community.
She is majoring in biology, with a
focus in bioinformatics, doing premedical
studies, and is considering
a minor in managing social impact,
a special minor offered by BC to determine
how people can use science
to make the world better.
As for her post-college plans,
Pirosca is considering going into
medicine, as it has “been on [her]
radar for a while.” She also considers
bioinformatics to be a career
option, as it has a “really large field,
especially in startup developments”
and is a secure and interesting way
to break into science.
Thinking back to her first days
at Malden High, Pirosca recalls herself
as being “super naive.” She entered
high school with the mindset
that education is a game, and you
just have to play it right. At the end
of the day, she feels that high school
“forced [her] to be a better person”
and taught her to “follow style with
substance.” While the class of 2020
may not have had a traditional senior
year, Pirosca is looking on the
bright side of things. Her experience
showed her that “if you put so
much emphasis on the end [of high
school], you’re not going to enjoy
the duration of it,” a piece of advice
she will pass on to others and continue
to live by.
Ana Pirosca’s senior portrait. Photo
submitted by James Valente.
pel according to The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. Upon his
return, he will be joining the BYU
graduating class of 2026.
14
Local News
maldenblueandgold.com
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Adjusting to High School Digitally
Hadjar Yousfi
Reporter
Nobody said starting high school
would be easy. On the contrary,
it can be quite hard. But starting high
school during a global pandemic
that has the whole world holding its
breath? Well, that’s a different story.
Every freshman student has had
their own opinion and experiences
adjusting into high school this year
in this weird environment.
Principal Chris Mastrangelo
can only imagine how freshmen are
dealing with the stress of this year.
“There’s a lot of adjustments when
you go from the eighth grade to the
ninth grade, in a normal year, and
it’s hard, it’s one of those transition
points in your life [...] you’ll always
remember.” He even imagines that
they are feeling disappointed and
that they aren’t even a part of Malden
High School due to the fact that
they haven’t been to the building as
students.
Of course, some students are
adjusting just fine while others are
having their fair share of issues, but
Malden High School is prepared to
help all students. According to Mastrangelo
and Ninth grade guidance
counselor Amy Yu, there are many
House principles, counselors, teachers,
and social workers there for the
students to help them transition to
high school. Saul Kruckenberg, a
freshman at Malden High School,
“[thinks] that it’s really nice to be
able to email counselors or teachers.”
Yu believes that “the socializing
piece [is] what students struggle
with.” Freshman year is one of the
most important years in your life.
Making friends during freshman
year is so important and many
people just like freshman student
Emma Spignese-Smolinsky feel that
it wasn’t what they were expecting.
“[She] can’t meet new people, [making
it] a different experience.”
Another freshman student
Kayla Ortiz has been enjoying this
quite well “Freshman year has been
great so far, [she likes] all [her]
teachers [and] students, everyone
has been so nice and kind to one
another.”
Of course there are still some
problems with high school online.
Spignese-Smolinsky revealed that
“It’s harder to learn like this.” Steven
Luong, another freshman student,
feels that “It’s a bit hard to stay
concentrated on doing your work
though.” Being on a device for the
whole day for school and feel draining
for some students and cause
them to lose interest or fall behind.
Malden High has been doing
its best to help accommodate
the needs of all the students. Saul
Kruckenburg comments that “[he]
just thinks that Malden High is doing
a great job at this and [he’s] glad
that we have been able to adapt to
virtual learning so well.” Mastrangelo
also commented on how much
he misses being in the highschool
“[he misses] seeing the kids [they]
all do all the adults in the building.”
Mastrangelo also comments
that he misses being able to say,
good morning to the students, as
well as saying
goodbye to them in
the afternoon. He
also wishes that he
was able to create
memories with the
students just as he
used to before the
pandemic.
Many students
like that
teachers have been
checking up on
students during
class, but it’s also
nice to hear personally
from them,
Kayla mentioned
that, “They [the
staff] could check
up on people if they [don’t show up
to class or just to chat].” As many
people at Malden High know, Principle
Mastrangelo sends out nightly
check-ins which are meant to let students
know that “even though we’re
seeing each other like this you can
still reach out to us.”
Of course nobody expected for
the pandemic to last this long. But
Malden High School has done its
best to accommodate the needs of
both freshmen and older students,
as they adapt into a lifestyle that
nobody ever deemed possible.
So Much Energy. Comic by Carolina Cuevas.
Members of the class of 2024: Joseph Yu “C”; Hadjar Yousfi “L”; Emma Spignese-Smolinsky “A”; Marianne Rivadeneira “S”; Amneet Kaur “S”; Daniel O’Toole “O”;
Jessica Li “F”; Natalie Tarantino “2”; Alan Feng “0”; Tsering Dolkar “2”; Karen Reyes Martínez “4”.
Peer Tutoring At Malden High
Krishany Marius
Lead Reporter
On Monday, December 7th
2020, Malden High School started
their online Peer Tutoring program.
The Peer Tutoring program is meant
to help kids after school who need
help with their classes. It is an opportunity
for students to help other
students, everyone involved with
the program is thrilled and ready to
get started.
Too many students found
themselves having a hard time with
the first quarter of the school year
Flyer for Malden High’s Peer Tutoring
Program.
and struggled trying to understand
some of the material in different
subjects. Stephanie Sibley and Kayla
Scheitlin both have been working
together to assist students who need
help with their classes. The Peer Tutoring
program also has additional
support from different teachers
and students who are excited about
starting peer tutoring as well.
Although it is a great way for
students to get help from fellow students,
people are now starting to get
used to how online school works.
It will be difficult because now that
everything is online, some things
are unexpected. “Students are struggling
at home, who have trouble
asking teachers online for help, it’s
hard to teach online classes and
having to ask questions in front of
everyone,” Guetchina Letang states.
Letang is one of the coordinators
that started the job in February,
a month before the pandemic hit.
Letang is in her fourth year as an
undergrad student. She wants to be
there for students because she as a
person understands what it is like
to be a student doing online classes
and can help students along the
way.
The Peer Tutoring program is
open for all grades where kids are
tutoring other kids who they signed
up.They will be willing to help the
students who need help on their
classwork. Peer tutoring will take
place five days a week, and each day
is a different subject, they spread it
out so students who need to come
on certain days can get help on certain
subjects.
Christine Dibendetto states,
that she “[thinks] it will be great, the
kids will probably get something out
of it, because they will have a one on
one with the students.” Dibenedetto
is one of the coordinators that help
the students, she believes that this is
a whole new different world we’re
living in and all the new technology
will definitely benefit people who
would love to work from home in
future job references.
This program is to offer students
peer tutoring during the asynchronous
time since they are not in
the building and not able to assist
students and do the after-school
tutoring like they used to.
Peer tutoring is every day,
Monday is for English learners
kids who need help with their
English,Tuesdays are math they
have tons of math tutors, Wednesday’s
focus is science and math,
Thursdays is general reading and
writing like English and History.
Friday is world language. “[They]
thought getting some help from
peers might be more appealing to
some students and it might give
them additional support that some
of them need,” Sibley says.
It is also a way for students
to connect with other students and
having that structured opportunity
to talk and interact may be refreshing
for some students. The outcome
ultimately is that kids will improve
their grades. There were too many
kids who failed their classes in the
1st quarter. It is an opportunity so
more students can know about this.
It’s a tough time for everyone
and it can be difficult for many students
to keep up with their schoolwork
and try to understand life
itself. “She is [I am] hoping after the
new year we’ll be able to move into
a hybrid schedule.” It is very much
needed for many students, many
are struggling in school, it has been
detrimental for students and teachers
the whole school year.
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Local News
maldenblueandgold.com
15
Class of 2022 Elections
Julie Yu
Editor-In-Chief
The COVID-19 outbreak has
caused numerous events to be
canceled. However, one tradition
that will continue is class elections.
The Class of 2022 held their junior
class elections. The online election
took place on Monday, December
21st during school hours, to which
the winners were announced at the
end of the school day.
The Class of 2022 elected a
President, Vice President, Social
Media Coordinator, Art Director,
Secretary, Treasurer, and two Junior
Varieties (JV) Coordinators.
The position of President had
four candidates: juniors Jason Ong,
Marouane Jaayfer, Nik McGuffie,
and the Managing Editor of The
Blue and Gold, Julie Huynh.
Juniors Maleena Haq, Sarah
Oliveira, and the Head of Local
News of The Blue and Gold, Courtney
Fitzgerald ran for the role of
Vice President.
There were three students
running for the Social Media Coordinator
position: Becky Tse, Yoji
Yonetani, and the Managing Editor
of Print and Design of The Blue and
Gold, Lauren Mallett.
The Class of 2022 student council
has decided to alter some of the
roles. Last year the student council
held an open interest meeting for
anyone that was interested in running
for a position. The Class of 2022
Class Advisor, Daniel Jurkowski,
explained that “it was all student
driven,” adding that “they wanted
to change some of the names and
the positions that were offered.”
One of the roles that have been
altered was the Historian position.
Among the student council, an idea
was proposed to change the name of
the Historian position to Art Director,
but according to Jurkowski “the
role and the responsibilities have
remained the same, just the name is
being changed.” Juniors Tony Giech
and the Head of Sports News of The
Blue and Gold, Lulu Harding, both
ran for the position.
The previous Class of 2022
Secretary is Christelle Jean and she
was the only candidate that ran for
the position. By default, this meant
that Jean had been re-elected for the
secretary position.
There were two candidates
running for the position of Treasurer,
Sammi Nie and Sophia Kouhail.
The position of JV Coordinators
had the most candidates with eight
people in the running. Juniors Aiden
Thompson, Antonia Bilodeau, Reem
Bouchra, Mayada Giha, Jing Ren,
Sarah Schneider, Tivian Nguyen,
and Maggie Yick all ran for the position.
Unlike in previous years, the
Class of 2022 had decided to have JV
Coordinators run solo, rather than in
pairs. Jurkowski explained that this
was not intentional, it was a topic
discussed by him and the class officers
and they came to the consensus
that it would work best that way to
have the two positions but have the
candidates run individually.
Haq stated that this year’s election
was very different especially
given “the circumstances that we
are facing globally and as a community.”
She further explained that the
pandemic has made everything feel
thrown off, adding that a class election
is at least able to make students
feel like they have “some control
over everything.”
Giha believes that elections
“are an opportunity for students to
take action and lead their class to
success.” She further explained that
“having elected leaders is especially
important this year in order to work
through these obstacles and achieve
the goals the class [had] already set.”
Nie explained that this election
had been specifically very crucial
due to the fact that it is the Class
of 2022’s “last year before senior
year which is [a] year of [many]
major events.” She also mentioned
that everyone has lived the past
few months questioning what is
to come in the future, and with so
much uncertainty, answers have
been difficult to come across. Nie
expressed that for some people voting
and having a say in their future
can “give them hope,” adding that
“people will vote for the candidate
that gives them a feeling of security
during these unstable times.”
Thompson expressed that he
thinks the election for their junior
year will be especially important
because “even though [Malden
High is] doing online learning [the
students are] still have [that] sense
of school.”
One of the biggest differences
candidates have had to adapt to has
been campaigning remotely, and
not being able to post flyers around
the school. However that has not
stopped the candidates from promoting
themselves on social media
platforms.
Bilodeau mentioned that the
candidates “[do not] have that same
face to face connection with people
in [their] classes, in the halls, or
even at lunch anymore.” Bouachra
agreed that campaigning remotely
is a bit difficult. She mentioned that
“having to use social media to its
full extent is so tricky as you have to
target the right audience and engage
them.” Although she did note that
“campaigning virtually can also be
beneficial since [their] ideas can be
more widespread and reach a larger
audience.”
To elaborate on that point, Tse
stated that she believes that “social
media plays a large role in helping
advertise. She explained that she
thinks getting her campaign out
there has been “fairly easier,” adding
that nowadays “everyone is going
on social media.”
Even before the pandemic hit,
the Class of 2022 utilized an online
voting platform, which they will
be using again this year. Jurkowski
explained that everyone was sent an
email in the morning with a password
in it that they needed in order
to place their votes. Another feature
in using the online voting system
was the fact that he was “able to see
live results throughout the day.” He
also mentioned that “[this voting]
system worked well last year, and
we had a big turnout,” as everything
ran smoothly.
However Jurkowski noted
that turnout this year is a concern
of his, as last year he was able to
walk around the cafeteria with his
chromebook encouraging students
to vote, which of course will not be a
possibility this year.
Looking back on the class’
first year of fundraising, Jurkowski
expressed that the situation is unfortunate
but hindrance is “something
that [the class is] used to. They are
eager and hopeful for their junior
year, especially after they were not
able to start fundraising until the
beginning of their sophomore year,
when they officially got their class
advisor. After getting a late start,
they were again set back by CO-
VID-19, being that their sophomore
year was cut short.
Already the Class of 2022 was
at a disadvantage in comparison to
other classes. Typically at Malden
High, each class is able to start fundraising
towards the end of their
freshman year, which was not the
case for the Class of 2022. They were
not able to find a class advisor until
the Fall of 2019 (their sophomore
year), which was also the year that
Jurkowski was hired as a gym teacher
at Malden High.
Tse stated that with the loss
of time, the class has undeniably
missed out on many fundraising
opportunities but admires the progress
and efforts that both the class
officers and her fellow classmates
have made in the short amount of
time that they have had. Giha added
to that explaining that initially at
the beginning of the self quarantine
period, she was doubtful but the
“student council showed great initiative,”
which makes her confident
“that the class will come up with
creative ideas for events and raising
money.”
Reflecting on the COVID-19
pandemic, Nie expressed that it “has
given us as much as it took from us,”
further explaining that “it has made
[the class officers] become more
creative and think outside of the box
by forcing us to come up with other
sources of revenue.” She added that
it has made them more “meticulous
about [their] planning,” and caused
them to figure out what their priorities
and main efforts are.” Despite
the hardships, Nie believes that
“it has made [them] an incredibly
strong class,” and has placed emphasis
on the fact that the class “is
still together and strong.”
Thompson agreed with Nie
stating that they are strong enough
to get through whatever challenges
come their way. Haq is staying positive
amongst these uncertainties as
she explained that there will always
be inconveniences that are out of
their control, but “it is [their] job
to find ways around them and still
achieve [their] goals.”
Despite the results of the class
election, Jurkowski believes that
after being held back from multiple
different factors, the class will
“[make] the best of the situation,”
as the student council is a “super
resilient group.”
Congratulations to
the Winners!
President:
Julie Huynh
Vice President:
Sarah Oliveira
Secretary:
Christelle Jean
Treasurer:
Sammi Nie
Art Director:
Tony Giech
Social Media Coordinator:
Lauren Mallett
JVs Directors:
Tivian Nguyen & Mayada Giha
16
Local News
maldenblueandgold.com
Demolition of the Malden
Teen Enrichment Center
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Courtney Fitzgerald
Head of Local
In late October of 2020, demolition
began on the Malden Teen Enrichment
Center (MTEC). The building
housing the MTEC had been
structurally unsound for a couple of
years. The safety of the building had
been in question since May of 2018.
Shoring, a temporary form of prop
support, had been implemented in
May of 2019 when the initial review
of the building had been done. In
November of 2019 the building was
ordered to be evacuated.
The Malden Teen Enrichment
Center was founded through a
group of adults who had partnered
with the teen population to create
a place for teens to participate in
activities with their peers. The
MTEC offers teens a high quality
program where leadership and
youth development is promoted.
This originally when events targeted
towards teens hosted at the
YMCA eventually grew into the
beloved teen center. As the attendance
increased at the teen nights,
it became apparent to them that
they would need to expand the
availability of these activities, and
so planning began. They needed
to find housing and funding as
well as programs and activities for
the teen to partake in.
Teen Center in the process of being demolished. Photo by Carlos Aragon Aldana.
Kayley Glavin
Lead Reporter
Malden High usually offers a
variety of clubs, but due to
the circumstances this year, there
are only a handful of them that are
moving to an online format. The
pandemic has not stopped some
students from trying to start new
clubs either. While many still want
to continue meeting, “some would
be difficult to” continue, history
teacher, Kerry Veritas, said. Certain
clubs that are national organizations
such as the Key Club and NHS will
continue to meet, no matter what.
Veritas is the advisor to the
Feminism Club, which is held every
Thursday as it was “something
[the members] wanted to do.” So
far it has been a success for her and
the students a part of it. Veritas expressed
that she still has many of the
main members, but looks forward
to “recruiting more members.” She
An Update on Clubs
Classrooms were decorated to welcome back students. Photo
submitted by Pamela MacDonald.
continues to have an online platform
for the kids who still want to
be involved.
Librarian, Mary Liberge, used
to advise the Art Club. This is one
of the many examples of clubs that
are hard to format online because
“every student would need their
own supplies and that proposes a
barrier.” Until this club is able to
meet in person, it is going to hold off
on running for now. ‘’There are a lot
less clubs running this time” due to
remote learning, said Veritas.
Due to the difficulties in organizing
clubs this year, Veritas began
working with Erin Craven, who
had some good ideas about how
to launch “clubs for this particular
year, especially for freshmen who
are new and want to get involved
from home.” In prior years, freshmen
would learn about clubs and
extracurriculars they could join at
the Activities Fair, but unfortunately
Juliana Luong
Lead Reporter
The Special Education Parent
Advisory Council (SEPAC)
held a socially-distanced rally on
September 23, 2020 in the Malden
High School courtyard. The rally
was organized by the Special Education
Parent Advisory Council and
it “was in support of offering the
option of in person learning to [Malden’s]
highest needs learners that
remote learning can’t offer,” said
Adam Weldai. “To some people the
benefits outweigh the risks and they
want to give their kids a shot,” Wed-
lai explained.
During the
SEPAC rally
many of Malden’s
parents
spoke about
their struggles
with remote
learning with
their kids. Weldai
explained
that it is “stuff
that we don’t
normally think
about. Kids be-
that was not held this year.
Veritas believes her kids are
as interested and engaged with the
Feminism Club online, just as much
as they were in person. In ways it
makes “it easier because you are
able to be in your house at the same
time.” There is more “flexibility” for
her students and it is also not mandatory.
For her club, being online
has not stopped or “limited conversation
so far.” However, Google
Meets and the internet can always be
an issue. Google Meets have “their
own sort of vibe to it.” Most of the
time it goes smoothly but there is “a
little difficulty.”
Her and other teachers still
prefer to be in person, but they understand
why that is not an option at
the moment. The good thing about
online clubs is they are voluntary, so
only people who want to be a part of
the conversation attend, and not because
they are forced to participate.
cause they work with an Adaptive
Physical Education teacher they are
able to practice jumping, dexterity
with their fingers, raising both your
arms at the same time and being able
to sit in a seat without any urges.”
Computer screens limit students’
ability to learn and practice
what they have worked so hard
to accomplish. With that, parents
want to help their kids to reach their
full potential. Pamela MacDonald,
the head of Special Education at
the Malden High School, said that
“[her] job is about building relationships
with parents and building
support for students. It was nice to
connect with people and put some
names with faces.”
Jennifer Spadafora, a parent of
a special needs student can relate.
She explained that “it was really
good just to see people advocating
There are about fourteen
clubs that are still going to try and
continue meeting in “an online environment.”
Veritas and Craven are
arranging a Google Slides presentation
to showcase continuing clubs.
This will allow students to view the
“joining information, pictures and
possible videos.” James Valente, media
teacher, was also involved in the
plan to “create a video overview”
of what is available to students and
what is provided to them. The next
step in their plan is to distribute this
information to all of the grades, specifically
freshman.
This would be a great way to
get more club members and it allows
the students to still be involved
in something they love, even from
home. Their life does not have to
completely go on hold. Clubs are
also a great way for students to interact
with their friends “outside” of
class.
Special Education Parent Advisory Council
(SEPAC) Hosts Rally
for their kids’ education. Having a
special needs child is a whole different
avenue including parents
that don’t know how to educate our
kids in a remote learning or distance
learning environment, not to say
that remote learning is easy for anyone
whatsoever.”
The Special Education Parent
Advisory Council is in existence to
make sure that no parents feel alone
and so they can talk about their
questions and concerns. Spadafora
also explained that “as well as having
SEPAC educate parents that
may not be familiar with special education.”
MacDonald also explained
that “[she does not] always know
everything [that is] going on . . . so
to have another set of eyes and ears
in the district and also the perspective
of the parents is important and
is the best advocate for families.”
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
The Malden Police Department
Hires New
Civil Rights Officer
Krishany Marius
Lead Reporter
The Malden Police Department
hired a new Civil Rights Officer
Michael Powell and is proud to
have this title known to the city. It
was a position that was presented to
Powell and he took it without hesitation,
he had been investigating
hate crimes and hate incidents for a
while now Powell wanted to make
his position known
to the public. Powell
felt like this will
be an important
opportunity for the
police department
and the city of Malden.
He wants the
people of Malden to
feel safe and do not
want their rights to
be violated.
Powell hopes
to be an inspiration
towards little kids
and young people
“[He thinks] that if
[he has] a connection
with people
before [he] became
a police officer.”
He hopes that he
can inspire younger
people of all backgrounds.
He feels
as if “one of [his]
stronger attributes
[is he is] able to connect
with people in
a real way.” As time goes on Powell
wants to make his position educational
towards his younger audience
not only for the police department
but for the general public as well.
Powell looks forward to people
warming up to him and feel more
comfortable and to share their stories
and so he can address it with all
sides of the parties involved. Powell
stated that “the more people know,
the more people grow.” Some people
may not know that some of their
human rights have been violated
before, and the position Powell has
can allow people to feel comfortable
talking about certain things that
should be talked about more. It is an
educational well-known purpose to
let people know that they can come
to Powell freely even if they are unsure
if something leads up to a hate
incident, he wants to be involved in
the community to understand more
of these things.
Powell goes on and states that
“America definitely has some healing
to do as unfortunately [there is] a
lot of division in our country.” There
are conversations that need to be
talked about that are usually swept
under the rug and some people
are not comfortable talking about,
Powell said “we need to have more
difficult conversations that need to
Malden Police’s New Civil Rights Officer Michael Powell.
Photo from the Malden Police Twitter page.
be made comfortable.” Having a
general understanding of what your
rights are is important especially for
young folks to get involved with
knowing their rights they will have
a better understanding and opinion
on certain topics.
This new Civil Rights Position
has such an important impact on
Malden and helps Malden citizens
to have a better relationship with
the Malden Police Department. It is
something that can have such a huge
influence on young kids and young
adults who question many things in
the city that will be great for everyone.
It is more than just advocating
or being a guardian for folks that are
experiencing concerns about their
human rights being affected. This
new position is something the Malden
community can come together
and focus on the bigger things.
Local News
maldenblueandgold.com
There’s a Lot.
Comic by
Carolina
Cuevas
New Mosque Ribbon Cutting
Ceremony
Chaimaa Assli
Lead Reporter
The Outreach Community and
Reform Center (OCRC) was established
on November 28th, 2006.
The purpose of the OCRC is to carry
on religious and charitable activities.
Before they got a new building,
they used to hold Eid prayers in
the Malden High School gym and
Ramadan iftars used to be held in
the cafeteria. The OCRC also invites
local and foreign Muslim Scholars
to further expand the knowledge of
the community and to educate them
about the different aspects of Islam.
In April 2019, the OCRC succeeded
in achieving a long time goal
that is getting a new place in Malden
to accommodate the growing
Muslim population in Malden and
to further develop its activities. The
renovation of the building took over
a year to make it suitable for an Islamic
center. The grand opening has
been delayed for months due to CO-
VID-19 restrictions and guidelines.
On Saturday, October 3rd the OCRC
organized a small ribbon-cutting
ceremony to officially open its doors
for the public.
Attending the ceremony was
Mayor Gary Christenson, Police
Chief Kevin Molis and some city
council members including Ward
4 City Councilor Ryan O’Malley
and Ward 1 City Councilor Peg
Crowe. This event was also open
to the neighbors. The event started
off at 2:00 pm with a tour of the
new building. Everyone got to see
the prayer room and classrooms
used for the weekend school. After
the tour, everyone gathered in the
prayer room to listen to the speakers.
The speakers included Abdul
Hamid, a member of the Board of
Trustees, then followed the Mayor,
and finally, Abdul Wahab Khushafa
closed off. After the speakers, the
Mayor, Police Chief, Abdul Hamid,
Laila Shari, and two City Council
members lined up to cut the ribbon.
Everyone was socially distancing
and wearing their masks. There
were hand sanitizer and anti-bacterial
wipes available for everyone.
There were also stickers on the floor
that showed everyone where to
stand.
Kindergarten classroom at the OCRC
learning the Arabic Alphabet. Photo by
Chaimaa Assli.
17
Mayor giving a speech before the ribbon
cutting. Photo by Chaimaa Assli.
Larbi Braer, a member of the
Board of Directors said that there
is a greater sense of community.
He states that “[they] are hoping to
spread a positive image of Islam and
to expand and reach out to the community
in a positive way.” They are
trying to improve the community as
much as they can.
When Mayor Christenson was
still a City Councilor, Adil Bousalem
contacted him about a vision
15 years ago. Christenson was “ in
awe” to see what they had achieved
and explained “It [does not] matter
where they are so long as [they are]
in Malden.”
To Adil Bousalem the new
mosque is a celebration of years of
struggle to achieve this goal. After
many years of fundraisers, talking
to the people of the city and trying
to find a place with the market in
Malden was not easy. Even with
this building, it took about a year
and a half to negotiate and secure
the area before it could finally
open. Bousalem states “the building
itself celebrates their hard work,
community, board members and
volunteers.” This is something they
have dreamed of for years and have
finally achieved it.
Police Chief Kevin Molis has
known this community right from
the beginning. When he first found
out about their existence he sought
them out. He believes that it is important
for a city to develop relationships
with people who decided
that this is where they want to live,
work and worship. Molis lives in the
neighborhood so this event is both
personal and professional. He said
it means a lot to him that a religious
community would see Malden as
a welcoming place. Although he is
impressed with the new place he believes
that “God can be worshipped
anywhere.”
The OCRC values the youth.
They believe that the youth are the
future leaders of Islam in America.
There is also an after school program
that teaches Arabic, Islamic
studies, and Quran at the OCRC to
the youth.
The OCRC intends to change
its name to the Malden Islamic Center
(MIC).
18
Local News
maldenblueandgold.com
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Opening of Paws & Purrfection Company in Malden
Sandra Li
Managing Editor
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic
impacting many aspects of
daily life, it has not stopped new
businesses from opening up in Malden,
including Paws & Purrfection
Company. Located on 240 Main
Street, the Paws & Purrfection Company
officially opened its doors on
August 29th.
Kashawna Harling, who is one
of the owners of the small business,
explained that it has always been a
goal for her to start a business and
with the pandemic, it enabled her
to have more free time. During the
shutdown, Harling created a business
plan that consisted of how she
would like the store to look, what
she would be selling and the kind
of services the company would be
offering.
With Harling being a Malden
resident herself, she was able to look
for rental properties back in May.
She mentioned how “[she] was lucky
enough to find a store property five
minutes away from [her] home”
which especially helped when
Harling and co-owner, Ralph Long
III, would both “spend at least ten
hours a day from July to August” to
organize and put together the store.
The Paws & Purrfection Company
offers products and services
that are based around pets. More
specifically, the business provides
pets and food supplies, dog grooming
and yard pet waste removal
services.
Being the owner of two dogs
Chaimaa Assli
Lead Reporter
Soul City Yoga recently opened
in Malden on September 22nd,
2020. It is located on 210 Pleasant
Street in Malden Center across from
City Hall. The owners are Shanel
Anderson and Sara Bailey.
This is not the first location of
Soul City Yoga. Anderson and Bailey’s
first studio was opened in 2016
in Lynn. To them Malden is a lot like
Lynn. They really liked the cultural
The entrance of Soul City Yoga. Photo
submitted by Shanel Anderson.
and cats, Harling enjoys “spending
time with and caring for animals’’
which was one of the reasons that
prompted her to open a business
centered on pets. On top of that, she
stated how during the initial pandemic
shutdowns, “it was getting
increasingly difficult to obtain pet
food and supplies quickly.” With
the demand placed on major pet
supply companies causing delays
in delivery times, it prompted for
Harling to establish Paws & Purrfection
Company as “a local alternative
to large pet supply distributors.”
In the end, her goal was to form a
local neighborhood store that gives
both pet supplies and services with
a “down-home personal touch.”
Along with other small businesses
across the country, the Paws
& Purrfection Company has also
been largely impacted by COVID-19.
Mayor Gary Christenson expressed
that the most difficult aspect of the
pandemic has been “the reduction in
the number of customers that come
[into the] city.” However, this has
not stopped people from establishing
businesses as seen through the
number of stores that have recently
opened up.
Christenson explained that
with many individuals having much
free time, they have utilized this
opportunity to start their own business,
and further said that “people
are looking to take charge of their
futures and become entrepreneurs.”
For Paws & Purrfection, one of
the issues that the business is facing
is funding. Harling stated that
because of the closures placed in
diversity of Malden. Anderson and
Bailey explained that Malden is the
most diverse community in the commonwealth
and “it fit perfectly.” The
pillars of their mission statement is
to offer yoga to communities that
do not already have it. They chose
Lynn because Anderson and Bailey
were both born and raised in Lynn
and after doing much research they
decided that Malden was the right
place for Soul City Yoga and “the
pieces fell in line.”
Both Anderson and Bailey love
Malden. Anderson said “[she has]
been impressed with Malden with
the accessibility of the authority and
the administration,” adding that
they have really “stepped up to help
[businesses] and they really want
them to succeed.” The community
itself, the people who come to the
studio are “enthusiastic” and “welcoming”
and happy that they are
coming into the studio.
Anderson and Bailey really like
how the new building turned out.
They have been involved with it for
a long time and watching it come
to life has been exciting and a “test
of patience.” COVID-19 was a big
obstacle for them so seeing the place
now has made it even more special.
Bailey said that it feels very professional
and she loves the “aesthetic of
the city and the state, “[her] income
[has] become severely limited” to
the point where “[she has] to resort
to savings” in order to fund the
store. She further added that like
any new company, “profit and customers
come slowly” and so having
a second income has been essential
to ensure that the “business initially
stays afloat.” Another issue has
been marketing and advertising the
company as it has been “harder to
introduce yourself to local businesses
and customers during a time
of social distancing.”
In order to tackle these issues
that small businesses have been
experiencing, Mayor Christenson
directed the Malden Redevelopment
Authority to administer an
emergency small business assistance
program funded through the
city’s allotment of federal Community
Development Block Grants.
The program was mainly targeted
towards businesses that have five
or fewer full-time employees. In addition,
with restaurants being one
of the hardest hit industries, Christenson
further requested that the
licensing board waive the renewal
fees for their liquor licenses for 2021.
He explained that his approach
to this was that “instead of trying
to put money into their pocket, let’s
look at ways we can simply leave it
there.” For some, he said that this
saved almost to $3,500 “at a time
when every dollar counts.”
In the future, the City of Malden
plans on creating workshops
to help businesses understand how
to adapt to new safety practices
the building.”
At Soul City Yoga there is a
daily yoga practice. There are different
varieties: they offer yoga,
restorative yoga, yoga sculpt, and
they also host Barre, workshops,
events and offer retail. These classes
are currently offered both virtually
and in the studio “so you can take
your yoga anywhere.”
They both have their own
story as to why they began yoga and
started this business. For Anderson,
yoga really helped her with a difficult
pregnancy. She realized how
helpful it was and decided that she
wanted to get certified in yoga. To
her the general part of yoga teacher
training was questioning herself
constantly about what she would do
as soon as she completed the training.
Growing up in Lynn she knew
that there was no yoga available so
she wanted to do something where
the city would benefit from it. At
first it started off as something small
and it just grew from there.
The reason why Anderson
decided to open a yoga studio was
the lack of diversity in Yoga and
“there weren’t a lot of black women
in the class.” So to her it never felt
welcoming so she wanted to change
that. Anderson said, “If you have a
dream or an idea, be patient, follow
including contactless payment, the
utilization of QR codes and how to
keep customers confident in their
sanitization methods. On top of that,
the city is also initiating a marketing
campaign in order to draw people
back to the dining and gaming options
when it is more safe.
In spite of COVID-19 affecting
small businesses greatly, Harling
still continues to have high hopes
and aspirations for the Paws &
Purrfection Company. She hopes
for the business to not only “become
a local store name for the community,”
but to also “have a comfortable
sense of home and community” for
customers. Moreover, with Harling
being a first time business owner,
she is aiming for success during a
difficult time, but is confident that
with “hard work, faith and strong
ambition, [she] will get Paws &
Purrfection Company to be a success.”
The ribbon cutting ceremony for Paws
& Purrfection Company. Photo submitted
by Kashawna Harling.
Soul City Yoga Opens in Malden
through and don’t give up.”
Bailey was actually a practicing
attorney for six years after law
school and “it wasn’t the right fit
for [her].” Her husband realized
that and encouraged her to try yoga
since she loves dance and is pretty
athletic. During her first few classes
she felt like the outlier but she kept
going and it became part of her daily
routine, so she began yoga teacher
training. She soon began to teach
yoga and really enjoyed it so she
decided to quit her job as an attorney
and started teaching full time.
Later on she met up with Anderson.
They have known each other since
they were about 10 and 8 and since
Anderson owned a yoga studio and
Bailey was a yoga teacher they decided
to partner up. “That’s kind of
how the whole thing went down.”
Like Anderson, Bailey Also felt
uncomfortable when first walking
into a yoga studio. They believe
“the more diverse the better” and
everyone is welcome at Soul City
Yoga. Bailey said [it is hard to do
something new but “if you go to
soul city you will be welcomed and
if you keep at it and just keep trying
it’ll do wonders for your health and
wellness”
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Local News
maldenblueandgold.com
19
Virtual Spirit Week
Julie Huynh
Managing Editor
For the longest time, it has been a
tradition at Malden High for students
to participate in Spirit Week,
a series of days leading up to Pep
Rally where students get the opportunity
to dress up and show off their
school spirit. In the past, every student
that participated would earn
points for their class, but this year
was not like all the ones that came
before it. The Step Team did not perform
at Pep Rally, student council
members did not sell t-shirts, there
was no tug-of-war.
In early November, Beth Horwitz,
a Business Teacher and the
co-adviser to the Maldonian, was
speaking to art teacher Mary Ann
Seager about their disappointment,
because for them, Spirit Week “represents
a sense of community and
Malden High School Pride.”
This was when they decided to
take matters into their own hands
and set up a meeting with Principal
Christopher Mastrangelo to see
if there was any way to host Spirit
Week virtually this year. Mastrangelo
was excited to hear that Horwitz
and Seager were taking initiative
and said, “if [they] thought [they]
had enough time to plan it, then
absolutely, go for it.”
The following week, an email
was sent out to Malden High staff to
ask for any volunteers to help with
the planning. James Valente, Kristy
Hardy, Kristy Magras, Jeanne Marquardo,
Tim Lane, Todd Cole, and
Paul Marques were all staff members
that responded.
As a team, they decided that
Monday, November 23rd would be
Sports Day, Tuesday would be Bad
Hair Day, and Wednesday would be
Blue & Gold Day. They asked students
to take a picture of themselves
and upload it to them through a
Google Form, where they put together
all the submissions into a
video montage at the end of the day.
Valente took up the task of creating
all the videos, which are also available
on the Malden High School
website. Horwitz thought that he
“did a fantastic job,” knowing that it
was not easy and “time-consuming
at times.”
For Sports Day, students were
instructed to “rock [their] favorite
team’s colors and attire,” many of
the participants chose to wear their
Malden High sports merchandise.
There was no shortage of participation
from the staff members either.
Principal Mastrangelo wore a Celtics
sweatshirt and Boyle House
Principal Stephanie Sibley showed
her support for the Dallas Cowboys.
Students and staff did not come
to disappoint on Bad Hair Day.
While some people looked like they
just rolled out of bed, others put in
effort to braid their hair in a funky
way or put on a wig.
Usually Blue & Gold Day coincides
with Pep Rally, but that did
not stop people from repping their
class! Some students wore their class
shirt, others wore clothes showing
off their sports or clubs.
Horwitz’s favorite part about
Spirit Week this year was “seeing
the smiles on the students’ faces…
each day.” As a former graduate of
Malden High, Blue & Gold day was
“especially meaningful” to her because
the photos and videos helped
her remember all the happiness that
she got from these traditions. She
did not want the seniors to graduate
from Malden High without having
the same.
Horwitz and Seager felt that
having a Virtual Spirit Week would
serve as a nice reminder that “we
are always together at Malden High
School, showing Malden Pride
whether we are in school or distance
learning.”
Sarah Schneider and Reem Bouachra
show school spirit on Blue and Gold
day. Photo submitted by Bouachra.
History teacher Jonathan Copithorne and Michelangelo celebrate Spirit Week together. Photo submitted by Copithorne.
The 2020 Spirit Week poster. Photo
from Chris Mastrangelo.
From left to right; Kenny Nguyen, Brianna Preston, David Lombardi, Jennifer Phan, and Jason Ong show their school
spirit on Blue and Gold day. Photo submitted by Ong.
Senior Ana Dorner showing off her
look for bad hair day. Photo submitted
by Dorner.
20
Entertainment
maldenblueandgold.com
Movie Review:
I’m Thinking of Ending Things
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Carlos Aragon Aldana
Managing Editor of Print and
Design
Out of all the films I’ve watched
this year, the one that I’ve since
thought about the most is most
certainly I’m Thinking Of Ending
Things by Charlie Kaufman (who’s
done Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless
Mind and Being John Malkovich).
It’s also debatable whether or
not that’s a good or bad thing. After
much thought, I can confidently say
that I have not digested all of the
ideas the film presented and most
likely missed some of the more
subtle themes. This is my current
analysis and review of I’m Thinking
Of Ending Things.
While it may seem unintuitive,
I’ll get the more technical aspects of
the film out of the way before I attempt
to unravel the puzzle that is
the plot. In terms of performances,
they were all amazing; although this
is the first piece I’ve ever seen Jesse
Buckley in, she has already become
one of my favorite actresses. Toni
Collette sent chills down spine in all
of her scenes, just like she did in Hereditary
and Jesse Plemons does the
same. The camerawork is usually
simple, yet effective, although one
scene towards the end is beautifully
composed. It’s not revolutionary,
but it gets the job done really well.
Again, there’s probably more I’ll
catch on another rewatch since I was
really trying to figure out the themes
and story more than anything on the
first couple of viewings.
With that out of the way, I’ll
dive into the rabbit hole that is I’m
Thinking of Ending Things, from a
story standpoint. The IMDb synopsis
writes that “Full of misgivings, a
young woman travels with her new
boyfriend to his parents’ secluded
farm. Upon arriving, she comes to
question everything she thought
she knew about him, and herself.” It
leaves out the fact that throughout
the film, her trip is intercut with
scenes of a day in the life of a high
school janitor. While the description
isn’t wrong, it definitely won’t prepare
you for actual viewing. In fact,
I recommend you watch the film
before going forward. It’s on Netflix,
and it’s perfect for a quick watch
late at night (don’t try watching it
during the day, a sizeable chunk of
the film is quite dark). This part of
the review won’t make much sense
without it. Skip to the end for my
recommendation.
Did you watch it? Good. If not,
keep reading I guess, but it’s going
to be hard to follow. The first thing
I’ll get out of the way that you probably
didn’t pick up on is that Jesse
Buckley’s nameless protagonist is
Official poster for the movie I’m Thinking of Ending Things. Photo from Wikimedia.
a fantasy created by
the janitor, who is also
an aged Jake. I heard
it was much easier to
pick up on in the books,
but there are still hints
sprinkled throughout
the film here and there.
For example, Buckley’s
paintings are actually
Jake’s, if you saw that
during her trip to the
basement. Jake is also
shown to have a love of film as we
can see in his room, and Buckley’s
character just happens to become a
cinephile on the car ride home in her
review of A Woman Under the Influence,
which she viciously tore apart.
The review was also lifted straight
from the late critic Pauline Kael. It’s
also one of my favorite scenes of the
film, the way Buckley slips into her
native accent so casually was amazing;
I didn’t even notice the change
at first. Finally, at the end of the film,
she states that she never even spoke
to Jake, he just stared at her in a
creepy manner. She even said it was
akin to describing “a mosquito that
bit [her] 40 years ago. Jake is also
hinted to be the janitor a few times,
one of which was when she finds
the uniform in the washing machine.
The janitor also gives Buckley
the slippers that Jake tried to give
her earlier in the film. The girls at
the Tulsey Town are also the same
girls from the theatre who gave him
weird looks.
So why is all of this important?
What is Kaufman trying to say with
this piece? Well for one, I know one
of the biggest elements is the terror
in aging. The most obvious sign of
this is Jake’s mother, played by Toni
Collete. Her performance is bonechilling
as I said earlier, and if you
watched the film, you’d understand
why; almost everything the mother
does is unsettling in some way or
leads to something unsettling. I
didn’t quite put my finger on what
was up with her, although I’m not
too familiar with diseases or afflictions
like the kind she had and I’m
not in the place to diagnose someone.
The way she pressed all the wrong
buttons on Jake unintentionally
made me cringe. In fact, throughout
the entire dinner, I had to get up and
take a break at least twice. Her laugh
was tired, ominous, and sad all at
the same time. Finally, the way this
ties to aging can be fully wrapped
up by examining her scene on the
deathbed; it feels sad, but at the
same time you could see it coming.
It’s the same with age and death; it’s
always on the horizon, and there’s
no escape. Sometimes it’s swift, but
oftentimes you know it’s coming a
long time before it arrives.
Continuing on with the theme,
but changing characters, the entire
film is an examination of Jake’s
psyche through Buckley’s eyes. We
A scene from the movie. Photo from Netflix.
see his relationship with his parents,
how it ended up, his regrets,
and finally, we see dementia fully
consume him. It’s extremely scary,
seeing his regrets, what he wished
he could’ve done, like approaching
Buckely on trivia night or being able
to spend more time with his mother
or being able to be accepted by his
father. Finally, his speech and song
at the end in the theatre is something
that I actually haven’t figure out. It’s
definitely connected to aging (based
on the audience) and his regrets
(simply because this is the opposite
of the life he lived), but there’s almost
certainly more to dive into.
Finally, at the end we’re treated
with a visual marvel; a dance scene
featuring what seems to be Jake and
Buckley, although they’re replaced
by stand-ins. They live a life together,
and right before they’re married,
Jake’s doppelganger is killed by
Jake’s other doppelganger, or more
specifically, a stand-in for the Janitor.
What does this mean? To be frank,
I’m not entirely sure, but I’ll give it
a stab. For one, we can assert that
this is the life Jake wished he lived.
However, right before they’re united
in marriage, Jake is murdered by the
janitor. Why? Probably because the
life he ended up living is what kills
this dream, and the murder is performed
by the janitor because that’s
who he ultimately ends up living as.
There are probably other interpretations,
and another watch may help
me find more to it, but that’s how
my view of the sequence stands as
of the writings of this review.
Ultimately, I loved I’m Thinking
of Ending Things. I don’t want
to be that guy, but it really is a piece
that makes you think really hard.
While I think most of my assertions
(or is it assertations?) on the piece
are right, some bits like the dancing
sequence, the thoughts on time and
it’s true nature (which I didn’t dive
into because they were extremely
strange.) and the ending scene with
Jake’s speech are all parts I’m unsure
about. Which is fine by me; it means
I’ll probably keep coming back to it
and enjoy it. Even so, not everyone
is the type of person who watches
films for thematic reasons. Which is
fine, not every piece has to be deep
to make you feel something.
I’d recommend this piece to
anyone who wants to have something
to think about for a long time.
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Entertainment
maldenblueandgold.com
21
Krishany Marius
Lead Reporter
Grand Army aired on Netflix
October 16th, 2020. It covers
the many obstacles that teenagers
face in the real world and how they
deal with differences. Grand Army
has many ups and downs that five
teenagers are trying to deal with:
racial injustice, misogyny, high expectations
from parents, struggles
of fitting in a group, sexual assault,
sexuality and most importantly trying
to find themselves in a world
where they are not understood or
accepted. The show focuses on the
many topics that teens struggle with
and they should be talked about in
many places throughout the world.
These five teens are Sid, a senior
who struggles with his sexuality
and is trying to meet his brown
parents’ expectations. Dom, who
struggles with keeping her grades
up and taking care of her family
financially, staying in a small house
trying to cooperate with everything
all together. Joey, who throughout
the show is being shamed because
of the way she feels comfortable in
her own skin; her story in the show
is a traumatic experience that is
overlooked because of the way she
shows her body.
Jay, a saxophone player who he
and his friend Owen got in trouble
for messing around, only to have
Owen be suspended for 60 days
because they were playing around
in a lockdown. The principal barely
Show Review: Grand Army
shows empathy towards the situation.
Lastly, Leila who is a Chinese
adoptee wondering what is her
place and where does she fit in society;
she is a teenager completely
oblivious to her own toxic traits and
manipulative ways.
The show goes on and focuses
on the main topics of what many
people in society overlook, like
Joey’s performative activism, where
she shows her devotion but in reality
she is looking for validation to prove
people that they support her. Joey
sees that Dom and her friends are
kneeling during the “Star Spangled
Banner”, so she does it too because
she thinks it will prove that she is
with them, but she never holds her
friends accountable when they were
racist or homophobic.
The principal suspending
Owen for 60 days because of playing
around during a serious event
was excessive but he allows the two
white boys who had a sexual assault
allegation come back to school. It
goes to show that the principal does
not care for the black students in
the school and pushes away the fact
that black kids are more likely to get
targeted and pay the consequences.
This also happens in real life where
black students are stereotyped and
targeted for their skin color.
The show Grand Army goes
on with the struggles of identifying
sexuality and how terrifying it is to
come out to parents who probably
are not accepting towards that topic.
The struggles of keeping up with
grades and helping your family and
trying to see where you fit in this
world and see who you really are.
I would recommend this show
to anyone, especially teenagers who
know the daily struggles of being a
teenager in this society and having
to deal with so many things that are
thrown at them. Grand Army is a
show that allows people to get a better
understanding of many things
and helps relate to the main topics
that are not talked about. It is not a
cheesy teenage series but an understandable
and educational one.
Netflix series Grand Army poster. Photo taken from Wikimedia.
Monthly Playlists: Curated by You!
Cover art for The Blue
and Gold’s monthly
playlist for October.
Art by Lulu Harding.
Lulu Harding, Head of Sports
Julie Huynh, Managing Editor
Introducing: Malden High’s Playlist
of the Month!
This year, The Blue and Gold
is involving the students of Malden
High in creating a monthly playlist.
On the first of every month, there
will be a survey posted on our Instagram
Story to ask the community
what they are currently listening to.
These songs will then be added to a
playlist that will be shared both on
our website and our Spotify.
During these current times
with everyone stuck at home due to
the pandemic, it can be easy to feel
alone and disconnected from each
other. We hope that these monthly
playlists will help bring the Malden
High community together, as well
as become something that people
look forward to being a part of.
Each month’s playlist includes
songs from various different genres,
languages, and artists. This is a
chance for you to discover new artists,
while also seeing what others
are listening to right now.
Cover art for The Blue
and Gold’s monthly
playlist for November.
Art by Carolina
Cuevas.
Follow us on Spotify
@ The Blue and Gold
to listen to all our
monthly playlists!
22
Lulu Harding
Head of Sports
Zachary Nedall
Reporter
With the pandemic causing
some major changes to this
year’s sports seasons, one of the
biggest has been the cancellation of
what would have been this year’s
133rd Malden-Medford Thanksgiving
football game.
The Malden-Medford rivalry is
the second oldest football rivalry in
the nation. This being said, the traditional
game played on Thanksgiving
is something that both the Malden
and Medford communities look
forward to every year, whether they
are playing on the field or cheering
from the sidelines. Although
cancelling this game was the safest
option due to the current situation,
these communities, the coaches and
especially the football teams were
greatly impacted. Malden High’s
football coach Stephen Freker said
that he feels “badly for the Malden
High players the most, especially
the seniors, since [it] was their last
chance to play in a game that has the
longest tradition in school history.”
Senior Captain Muneer Odally
stated that he was honestly
extremely disappointed with the
cancellation of the Thanksgiving
game because it “had always been
the highlight of [his] season and
of Thanksgiving, and it was such a
shame [they did not] get to have it
or play in it since [they] all worked
really hard.” This is definitely a
common view amongst the team
as a whole, and having the season
cancelled on top of this was a frustrating
experience for them.
Freker felt the effects of the
absence of this game as well. He has
been on the Malden High football
coaching staff for 20 of the Thanksgiving
football games, “two as Head
Coach and 18 as assistant coach.”
He has also played in three of them,
so it was definitely a letdown to find
out that he was not coaching the
game this year.
For Senior Captain Giovani
Memeus, this game has always
meant a lot to him. Before transferring
to Malden High, he attended
Medford High for two years, giving
him experience playing with both
teams. He stated that not being able
to play a Thanksgiving game was
difficult, especially being a senior.
It also “hit [him] hard” because he
was looking forward to making sure
“Medford High [did not] score a single
point just like last year’s game.”
Last year, Malden claimed
victory against Medford, 29-0, at
the Thanksgiving game. Memeus
Sports
maldenblueandgold.com
Cancellation of the Malden vs. Medford
Thanksgiving football Game
Last year’s Thanksgiving Day victory. Photo
submitted by Coach Freker.
Juliana Luong
Lead Reporter
Adaptive P.E. is a class established
upon grade level in
grades K-12 with modified activities
that are safer and more feasible for
special educated students. Adaptive
P.E. is sometimes taken in place of a
gym class, but it is similar. The students
taking this class participate in
playing sports, although sometimes
with balls such as volleyball or
baseball, the coaches will use bigger
and or softer balls that are easier to
catch, hit or kick.
The Cupid Shuffle is one of the
favored parts of class. “Adaptive
P.E. really brings a different aspect
to [the students] day, especially
during the COVID-19; pandemic
students are really stressed and primarily
tuned into academics as well
as focusing online, it’s a good break
in the day to do something fun,”
said Pamela MacDonald, Director of
Special Education.
described how the team
“showed up and came to play
against Medford to make sure
that the seniors got the best
final game in their high school
football career.” Senior Captain
Matthew Bessey added
that although the game was
cold and wet, “it was really
fun to play ball one last time
with the seniors and end up
winning the game.” By taking
the win last year, Malden was
able to keep Medford’s Foot-
ball team on a winless season.
Malden High’s football team
has worked incredibly hard after
their outstanding efforts at last
year’s game. Although the pandemic
has put team practices on pause
for now, the players have been putting
in a lot of effort to find ways
to begin practicing for next season.
Most of the athletes tend to usually
train year-round anyways, but this
year has made individual or smaller
group strengthening sessions especially
common.
Bessey stated that “some
people have been practicing on their
select position to try and get better
for whenever they are able to play
again,” this usually being either in
the weight room or at Macdonald
Stadium. And according to Memeus,
“sometimes some of the guys
even attend a couple of Coach Elisee
Pompilus’ training sessions, which
really helped [them] out a lot.”
Besides the letdown of not being
able to play the Thanksgiving
football game, one of the main setbacks
of the season as a whole has
been getting players to be noticed
by college scouts. Normally, scouts
would be at some of the football
games, seeing which players stand
out and they believe have the potential
to perform well at their college.
With the absence of a fall season, the
window of opportunity for players
to play in front of college scouts has
become greatly diminished.
The same could be said for these
college’s opportunities of finding
fresh talent for their teams. Without
high school football games being
played, it is difficult for scouts to
find players and draft them to their
teams. The setback of all the athletic
seasons has posed this challenge for
sports across the board, and many
colleges are already working on
accommodations to be able to get
Malden High Schools’ Special
Education students, for the past two
years, worked hard to have Malden
High School revered as a Unified
Champion School. A Unified Champion
School “is a school and/or
district that exhibits an all-inclusive
atmosphere for children with [either
physical or cognitive] disabilities,”
explained Charlie Conefrey, Director
of Athletics and P.E.. Unified
Sports was created when Malden
partnered with the Special Olympics
of Massachusetts.
The class also partakes in many
things to be a part of the Malden
community. Conefrey stated that
“through athletics, we do Unified
basketball in the fall, but that was
canceled or moved to hopefully in
March or April.” There are about
15 to 20 girls and boys that sign up
to participate and travel along with
coaches for their basketball team. In
the spring, the Adaptive P.E. class
competes in outdoor track, and according
to Conefrey, plays games
with “neighboring communities”
including Melrose. This makes the
students’ athletic experience similar
to the rest of Malden High School’s
sports.
Although Adaptive P.E. is a
gym class, there are so many other
ways students participate and can
be involved. For example, students
are offered leadership roles in the
class. “We’ve had captains of the
cheerleading team that were a part
of the PACE program, some were a
part of the Captain’s
Council,”
said Conefrey.
The captain
was also a part
of the general
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Adaptive Physical Education In Malden
Malden High
cheerleading
team, and was
not a “separate
entity.”
COVID-19
these players drafted.
When asked about playing
football past the high-school level,
Odally has said that “football is
something [he] would really like to
play in college and still plans on it,
but the pandemic has kind of made
[him] more flexible with whether [he
plays] at the college level or not.”
Similarly, Bessey brings up
that “[he hopes he gets] the opportunity
to play football in college and
continue playing. The pandemic
has made it harder to get colleges
to see you for athletics, but like a lot
of other people in my position [we
will] make something happen.”
However, with the cancellation
of the Thanksgiving football game,
there may be also some good news
to look forward to.
“As it stands now, we may have
the opportunity to have a shorter
football season in Fall II,” Freker
stated. The Fall II season is currently
set to happen from February 22nd
through April 25th. “If [the Football
team get to have their] season, [they]
will play Medford for what will be
the 133rd time.” The game might
possibly be played on Patriots Day,
2021. It will not be exactly the same,
but there will be some excitement.
With the possibility of a
Malden-Medford game still being
played, the football team still has
something to look forward to. There
is a lot of hope for next season, and
the team will continue training for
the next time they get to play their
Medford rivals.
As Memeus brought up, “Like
the Great Kobe Bryant said, ‘everything
negative- pressure, challenges-
is all an opportunity for me to
rise.’” He concluded that personally,
he simply sees the “pandemic as just
another opportunity for [him] to improve
to be better than how [he] was
last year.”
has taken much of a negative toll, but
even despite being remote Adaptive
P.E. continues to keep its enjoyable
atmosphere. During class, students
use the chat room and enjoy seeing
everyone dancing. In-person class is
safe and socially distanced, everyone
wears masks and are spread across
the gym. “It’s a time to interact with
your peers in a non-academic way,”
said MacDonald. Adaptive P.E is
standing strong and will remain a
place where there is a fun, safe, and
learning environment.
The Malden High School Special Education Basketball Team.
Submitted by Charlie Conefrey. Taken prior to the pandemic.
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Sports
maldenblueandgold.com
23
Malden High
Awarded
Sportsmanship
Honor Roll
All photos from The Blue and Gold archives.
Sarah Alves Marques
Reporter
For the fifth year in a row, Malden High School was awarded
the Sportsmanship Honor Roll in District 5 by the Massachusetts
Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA). Across
the state, there are nine districts organized by the MIAA. Malden
is in district five along with the Northeastern Conference,
Cape Ann League and Commonwealth Athletic Conference.
This award is granted to schools for not having any
student-athletes or coaches disqualified or suspended from
an athletic contest during the school year. Good sportsmanship
consists of honest competition, good relationships with
teammates and accepting the results of the game, regardless
of the outcome.
Schools should practice the ability to accept defeat without
objection or complaint, victory without bragging and the
treatment of opponents with integrity and respect. With this
award, it reveals how coaches are now more of a role model to
students rather than having an individual training them for a
game only to win. Charlie Conefrey, the Director of Athletics
and Physical Education in Malden, stated that by achieving
this award “it shows that the kids are following the lead of
the coaches, who are following the lead of our athletic department
and administration from Malden High school.”
Conefrey believes that “sportsmanship permeates virtually
every aspect of our culture as ethics and fair play [which]
applies in all facets of life.” He mentioned that the award “is
a measure of our school’s understanding and commitment to
the educational nature of interscholastic athletics.”
He further added that “[Malden High School] tries to
teach sportsmanship in all aspects.” Conefrey also explained
that sportsmanship simply consists of respect, and it is for
yourself or your opponent. Moreover, that “it is [about] respect
in all aspects of gameplay, being gratuitous when you
win, and being just as gratuitous when you lose.”
Overall, it is one of his favorite honors because it directly
reflects how the Malden community “work[s] well together”
and on top of that, represents Malden as an athletic department
and that what they are essentially teaching is that sports
are not always about winning, rather it is about “having
respect for yourself, your peers, your school, and your community.”
24
Local News
maldenblueandgold.com
The Blue and Gold
January 2021
Teachers’ Perspectives on Online Learning
Kaoutar Wakaf
Lead Reporter
Many schools around the world,
including Malden High
School, have started off the year with
remote learning to protect students,
teachers and other staff members
from contracting COVID-19.
Although this may sound like
an unfavorable way to start the
year, it is certainly thought of as a
safer method of schooling that allows
the least amount of exposure
and would hopefully reduce the
number of coronavirus cases in the
Malden area. This dramatic change
in the way students learn has obviously
imposed the need for constant
adaptation, flexibility and patience,
but what are the teachers’ opinions
on this subject?
The teachers at Malden High
School did not sign up for remote
learning. They were used to the
in-person student-to-teacher interactions.
To continue teaching during
this pandemic, teachers had to
adapt at a quick pace to make this
year work.
Remote learning didn’t come
without challenges, however.
Robin Doherty, an English teacher
at Malden High School, said “because
[the ninth graders are] new
to the high school and it’s already
nerve-racking going to go to high
school nevermind now that it’s all
virtual—it’s harder for [her] to get
to know them. She has noticed that
“a lot of them are really shy about
the cameras for a variety of reasons,
whether it’s because they feel uncomfortable
and don’t know their
peers, or they don’t want people to
see the background of their homes.”
Doherty also thinks “it’s more
of a challenge to build a sense of
classroom community so [she is]
telling them to unmute themselves
and speak instead of just typing
in the chat because otherwise [she
would] be reading chats all day and
[would] feel like [she is] having a
conversation with [herself].”
She sees technology as an additional
challenge. For example,
“[she] was having technical issues
and [she] had to have the kids leave
the google meet and rejoin. [She]
knows sometimes, kids can’t get
on for whatever reason and that’s
out of [their] hands. It’s definitely
frustrating at times but [they] can’t
control technology.”
In addition, Joseph Luongo, an
art teacher at Malden High School
said he uses breakout rooms when
he wants to talk to someone privately.
Luongo mainly uses this
option to give feedback to students
about their artwork. He heard teachers
were using Nearpod a lot but he
hasn’t tried it, although it is something
he wants to look into. Usually,
he uses QuickTime or screencastify
to record his lessons. However, Luongo
also makes use of Padlet, a
website where students and teachers
can communicate, collaborate and
share their ideas through pictures
and links. Moreover, he adds that
“[teachers are] really trying [their]
best to mimic or duplicate the inperson
experience.”
Mary Ann Seager, another art
teacher at Malden High School,
further stated that “although [art
teachers are] trying to use the new
programs and [are] trying to become
more tech-savvy, it is very
important for [teachers] to maintain
personal contact with students by
doing demonstrations and having
them show [them] their work because
[they] don’t want to just do
slides. It has to be an activity that
[students] participate in. It’s a solo
activity, it always has been, whether
[a student] is at the studio by [themselves]
or with other students, but
[art teachers] are trying to maintain
the studio atmosphere,” which they
have found to be a challenge.
This year, Malden High School
changed the schedule by dropping a
period from the seven period rotation.
There are now six class periods,
with three classes a day in the new
two day rotation schedule. Referred
to as the “Blue and Gold” schedule,
there is integration of asynchronous
periods as well as an after school
period called “What I Need” (WIN),
similar to office hours. Ann Pember,
a history and psychology teacher,
said “[she likes] having a longer
time with fewer classes per day.
Everything takes longer in remote
learning because of tech issues.” She
was not sure how the block schedule
would work because it was not
something she had done before,
so she thinks the current schedule
“works much better” than the one
the school had in-person.
Pember added that “[she] also
likes that students have more time
to do homework assignments. [Students]
don’t have as much homework
each night, they have two days
to do an assignment, sometimes
four if it’s over the weekend. [She]
also [likes] starting a little bit later,
at 8:15. [Her] students are reporting
they are getting much more sleep
than in previous years and some of
that is because there’s not as much
to do. There aren’t as many school
activities but just having that half
an hour difference does help with
sleep.” Asynchronous time is also
something that she appreciates, seeing
it has a “great idea to have time
built into [their] schedule for meetings
and extra help.”
What do teachers think about
the way students learn through remote
learning? Has it changed the
way students learn?
Katherine Haskell, a chemistry
teacher at Malden High School, explained
that this year, “[she thinks]
that students are starting to take a
little more ownership of their own
learning because [teachers] aren’t
there to make sure [students] are
doing their work.”
In contrast to last year, she does
not have the ability to ask students
why they have not started an assignment,
students have to take responsibility
and do this themselves.
She said that “the large majority of
students are doing really well with
that.” Even when students are getting
kicked off or having internet issues,
they are still reaching out and
emailing her about what they may
have missed. Haskell added that
“[she’s] starting to see that students
are really taking ownership of their
own learning because [teachers]
aren’t there to make sure they’re doing
it.”
Many may recall how numerous
schools around the nation were
forced to close their doors and
quickly adopt a new virtual method
of schooling for their students. Malden’s
decision to switch to remote
learning was made by staff members
in an effort to resume classes
and end the year on a good note.
Jennifer Clapp, an English
teacher at MHS voiced her opinion
on the topic. She “[did not] think it
was super successful last year.” She
thinks MHS “got through it as best
as possible, but [that] it wasn’t real
remote learning,” comparing it to
“crisis learning where [students and
teachers] were trying to completely
shift gears in the middle of the year
to do what was needed to do.” She
felt that MHS “did not have enough
to plan or make sure everybody had
the stuff they needed so it was really
just reacting to everything that was
happening.”
Clapp felt that “[school administrators]
did this for the right reasons
but they were really limiting
Robert Grinnell’s period five Spanish class on Google Meets. Photo submitted by
Grinnell.
[teachers] for what [they] could do
with students. For example, [teachers]
couldn’t do [their] own lesson
planning, [they] couldn’t introduce
a lot of new material and it meant
that [the class] couldn’t really move
forward. Teachers tried their best,
students tried their best, everyone
tried their best, but [Clapp thinks]
it’s been way more successful this
year.” This year has proven to be
better than she thought it would
be. Her class attendance has been
steady, and she commented that
everybody is doing their work.
Though many teachers, students
and families are experiencing
remote learning in different ways,
most would all agree that it is not
perfect.
Overall, teachers seem to prefer
in-school learning to remote
learning. They miss student-teacher
interactions and hands-on activities,
however, because of the circumstances,
many seem to agree that it
would be a better decision to stay
home and make the most out of it.
Doherty, for example, is happy
to be teaching remotely this year
despite all the obstacles the situation
had presented. Ideally, she would
love to be in person in front of her
students, but because of the virus
she believes that is not possible. The
reason she became a teacher was so
she could make new connections
with students, and now she has
to learn how to do that through a
screen.
Check out this years “Meet the
Staff” video on our YouTube channel
by scanning this QR code.
Download the MHS
Sports App!
maldenblueandgold.com
Malden High School
Volume 105 106 Edition 41
February 2020
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