From incoming freshmen to graduates, students recall their favorite memories of the 2011-2012 school year and explain what they look forward to in the upcoming academic year.
Alumna
Allison Wu’s ’12 most memorable moment of last year was when science teacher Michael Hazeltine illustrated the concept of center of mass by standing on one leg on a wooden board hanging off a table. Wu said she is excited about attending Williams College this year.
Seniors
Senior Axl Castaneda’s most memorable moment was the annual Thanksgiving football game against Brookline.
The Tigers, who were winning in the first half, fell apart during the second. At the end of the game, the seniors cried and hugged each other. They found it hard to accept the loss, but they still gave a few words of wisdom to the underclassmen, according to Castaneda. One of the seniors told him to “work harder during the off-season, so we will win next year,” Castaneda said.
Now, as a senior, he said he feels sure that “losing to Brookline is not happening again because we’re going to make sure that we come out stronger, faster and better than them.”
Senior Georgina Miles reminisces about her time throughout her past two seasons on the dance team. The team won second place at Bay States and grand champions of New England at the New England Dance and Cheer Competition at Emmanuel College.
She said she hopes that in the future, the team will continue to improve on its technique and learn new tricks to add to the team’s repertoire.
Miles is looking forwards to the progress that she is sure the team will continue to make this year. She said she knows the team has potential, and she said she is proud of her team because “it has already come such a long way.”
“If we get even better, maybe we will even win first place at the Bay States competition this year,” she said.
Junior
For junior Sam Jones, the most memorable aspect of his sophomore year did not occur in Newton or even in the United States. Instead, he found Île de la Cité of Paris, France unforgettable.
“The French exchange trip was incredible. The entire experience of going away for a month and living in another country was unreal,” he said. Additionally, being at school with the exchange students and seeing their learning environment abroad was enjoyable, according to Jones.
Jones said he rates this trip and his actions throughout it among “some of the most interesting things I’ve done, period.” He hopes go abroad again sometime in the future, he said.
Sophomore
Sophomore Sean Fitzpatrick said during his freshman year, he realized that this school is very different from his middle school and that there are so many opportunities for the students here.
“I’m most looking forward to the Ligerbots season in the winter and the sailing season in the spring,” he said.
Freshmen
Having attended McCarthy Middle School in Chemlsford, freshman Edward Ding transferred to the Newton Public Schools this year.
“I am really looking forward to going to school in the new building,” he said.
As someone who did not live in Newton prior to this year, he claimed that seeing this school “was really eye-popping.”
What Ding remembers most vividly about last year is his school’s trip to Quebec. While at this school, Ding said he hopes to take advantage of opportunities that are similar to his trip to Quebec.
Freshman Jacob Gurvis, who attended Day Middle School, said he is looking forward to meeting new people at this school.
He said that last year, reading To Kill A Mockingbird struck him. “The book taught me many important life lessons about the reality of people in our world, both good and bad,” he said.
Regardless of the grade level of the student, everyone coming into, currently attending or leaving this school brings with him or her different experiences and looks forward to another year filled with memories, milestones and adventures.
