After more than eight months of design and work, Newton Teen Voice, a group of Newton high school student who meet weekly to promote teen wellness, launched its new website “Ask a Newton Teen” last Tuesday in the Druker Auditorium at the Newton Free Library.
The website was presented on a screen after Mayor Setti Warren and superintendent David Fleishman spoke.
According to junior Jonathan Halpern, a member of Newton Teen Voice, the group’s project revolved around creating a website that students can use a resource for help or guidance.
The first part of the website contains course reviews of both North and South classes submitted by students, allowing prospective students to gather background information about the course without teacher biases. The second part of the website is a question and answer page, where all anonymously submitted questions are answered by Newton Teen Voice as a whole and then reviewed by an adult committee of doctors, nurses, psychiatrists, and officers.
The website also includes a resource page where teens and adults can access information and receive guidance.
Halpern, who has worked on the website since the beginning, reflected on the “long but fulfilling” experience. “Given the sentiment of the website—which in large part serves to create conversation—I found myself constantly thinking about the way I’d go about issues that teens face here,” said Halpern. “We, as a group, also solidified our own views on Newton teen life.”