Throughout his years at South, Cao has exhibited exceptional leadership, beginning with positions in Class Office, including two Vice Presidencies and the seat of President his senior year.

According to his teachers, Cao’s impressive natural leadership abilities have led him to succeed and stand out amongst his peers.

“Chen is a leader in so many facets of school, but certainly his role of class [President] is his hallmark,” British Literature teacher Corrine Popp said. “[He] loves helping his fellow students and his unifying presence has made such a difference in our school.”

Math Department Head Steven Rattendi shares similar sentiments, admiring Cao’s leadership qualities as well. “My first experience seeing Chen in action as a leader was during the pep rally earlier in the year. I was amazed at the way he was able to interact with a large crowd of students,” Rattendi said.

Cao is extremely involved in other aspects of the South community as well, such as being a member of the Band, and the web editor of Denebola.

“Chen is an excellent musician,” band teacher Lisa Linde said. “His discipline shows in his playing.”

Cao combined his talent for technology and passion for music by creating a website for the school’s band.

He continually updated the website, each time accommodating the band’s needs. Cao’s determination and tendency to exceed expectations is what makes him such a beloved member of the senior class. He is valued for his friendliness and approachability. “Students seem comfortable talking with him,” Popp said, “He is always smiling and laughing.”

Cao is able to balance his extracurricular activities, the pressures of high school, and added stress in his life. “When all the seniors seemed to be at the end of their rope and beyond stressed, Chen remained consistently calm and composed,” French teacher Sebastien Merle said.

Cao is also a hardworking and dedicated standout student who “always goes beyond the expectations of the assignment,” Popp said.

Next fall, Cao will be attending Boston University.

Ariel Kirshenbaum, a talented student, athlete, and artist, exhibits admirable qualities. She was an integral member of both the Varsity Girls’ Soccer and Gymnastics teams since her freshman year. Kirshenbaum became a captain of both of these sports during her senior year.

Kirshenbaum’s gymnastics coach, Greg Beaupre, could not say enough about her.

“She is incredibly talented, yet incredibly humble,” Beaupre said.

When she initially joined the gymnastics team her freshman year, Kirshenbaum knew nothing about the sport; however, she was extremely athletic, dedicated, and quick to learn, which resulted in her rapid success in the sport. In fact, her athleticism was a contributing factor in her team’s tremendously successful season this year.

Kirshenbaum is a phenomenal student and person as a whole.“Ariel puts 100 percent into everything she does,” Beaupre said. “She is very gifted, kind, and supportive of people academically and athletically.”

Kirshenbaum’s Journalism teacher, Alexander Kaplan, agreed. “She is an academic star, but you would never know it by sitting in a class with her,” he said.

She does not openly exhibit her intelligence; “Ariel tries not to stand out from her peers,” Kaplan said.

Kirshenbaum demonstrates exceptional skill in art. She was one of three recipients of the annual Newton South High School Drawing and Painting Award.

“Ariel never settles for mediocre results in art and life. She faces challenges head on, grappling until she can come out on top with the best possible results,” art teacher Megan Leary-Crist said.

Along with her talents in a plethora of different activities, she was also the Sophomore Speech winner.

One can hear her laugh across the halls; she has a vibrant countenance and a winning smile. Along with a stellar personality, Kirshenbaum has an incredible sense of humor.

Many were left in hysterical laughter after reading her monthly column in the Lion’s Roar.

Next fall, Kirshenbaum will be attending Yale University.

Reed, a three-season athlete, has led her teams as captain of Girls’ Cross Country, Girls’ Ice Hockey, and Girls’ Outdoor Track and Field. Her participation in all three programs throughout her four years at South has shown her to be a valuable asset to the community.

She has been a dominant and steady contributor to the Outdoor Track and Field team, which won All-States last year and came in second this year. She was also part of the squad that won All-States in 2008.

In Track and Field, her personal achievements include qualifying for Nationals in the girls’ 2000-meter steeplechase and being a Dual County League (DCL) All-Star in all four years of her involvement on the team.

Additionally, Reed is also an All-American in both Track and Field and Cross Country. She runs the two-mile and the steeplechase.
As well as being a phenomenal runner, Reed excels in the hockey rink. She was a DCL All-Star for four years, almost leading the Girls’ Hockey team to a tournament success.

She was also an important member of the Girls’ Cross Country team, being a DCL All-Star.

Reed led the team all the way to the New England’s meet.

As well as being a fantastic runner, Reed is also a great person. She is not a selfish athlete; she cares deeply about her teammates and their performances.

Reed works hard in practice and has incredible work ethic. She encourages everyone who looks up to her on her sports teams.

She also had a leadership role as captain of all three seasons, and helped to improve her team, leading by example, practicing, and playing hard everyday.

“Madeleine is one of those kids that comes around every so often,” Athletic Director Scott Perrin said. “She’s just special in how she does [off the track and out of the rink] and how she performs in the sports she plays.”

Out of the many candidates that were contenders for the award, Reed was chosen for her outstanding achievements in South’s athletic program. Her hard work and leadership is certainly a model for all future athletes who will compete for the Lions.

“Her sports accolades speak for themselves,” Perrin said.

Reed will be attending Boston College in the fall.

In his years at South, Yuji Wakimoto has been one of the most successful track athletes to ever walk the halls of the school, as he was a captain on the Boys’ Cross Country, Boys’ Indoor Track and Field, and Boys’ Outdoor Track and Field teams.

Wakimoto’s raw talent and hard work ethic has allowed him to succeed during all three running seasons. He even managed to compete with a serious foot injury during the indoor season two years ago.

Wakimoto experienced a stress fracture in his foot, a common but painful injury for track athletes that sidelined him for the majority of the indoor and outdoor season.

Wakimoto, however, was desperate to get back to running and helping his team. He made a full recovery for all three of his seasons this year.

This year, he was part of the 4×800 relay in Outdoor Track and Field that placed fifth in the state, and ran a personal record of 1:56 in the 800-meter run.

Wakimoto is known for his exceptional leadership skills, hard work, and dedication to the team.

He helped lead the Boys’ Outdoor Track and Field team to its fourth consecutive DCL championship, preserving its undefeated record.

His hard work and talent were rewarded as he was designated a DCL All-Star all three seasons this year for his consistently strong athletic performance.

“[Wakimoto] is a kid who scores a lot of points in particularly what was considered a rebuilding year, and [as] a young man who dealt with injury, he still brought the points,” Perrin said. 

Wakimoto will be attenting the University of Rochester in the fall.

Both Reed and Wakimoto were chosen out of the many talented athletes at South due to their work ethic, talent, and contributions to the South athletic program.

Congratulations to this year’s winners of the Danny Mendelson award. 

The Phi Beta Kappa award is given annually to one member of every graduating class for excellence in academics.

Each year’s recipient of the award has the highest grade point average in his or her class. This year, senior Meghna Nandi has been granted this prestigious title.

Nandi’s dedication to her schoolwork is apparent through her extremely rigorous course load.

Her core classes include AP Spanish, AP Statistics, AP Journalism, AP Physics, and AP Psychology.

In addition to the Phi Beta Kappa award, Nandi has been honored with the Superintendent’s Excellence Award and is also a Goldrick Marshall.

Nandi is known by her teachers and peers for her unique combination of serious study habits and a wonderful sense of humor.

Physics teacher Hema Roychowdhury has both praised Nandi’s study habits and recommended that she consider a future career as a stand-up comedian.

“She’s not satisfied until she gets it, and when she does you can read it on her face,” Roychowdhury said.

Roychowdhury went on to describe Nandi as both funny and very honest.

“Honesty: she’s incapable of anything else,” Roychowdhury said.

Nandi’s peers view her in very much the same light. “She dedicates a lot of her time [to studying] and she’s willing to spend a lot of time to get something done,” senior Allen Li said.

However, in Li’s mind, her extreme diligence is what makes Nandi stand out the most.

“One of her best qualities would just [be] her ability to make someone laugh. She’s open, and she’ll say what’s on her mind, definitely,” he said.

Senior Silong Yang appreciates Nandi’s dedication and excellent work ethic, as well as her overall attitude towards her academic achievement.

“She really wants to learn the material for her own, not just for a grade,” he said. Nandi aims to be intelligent for her own sake, and has never believed in structuring her life around a college resume.

He added that Nandi has always been very humble about her schoolwork.

This fall Nandi plans on attending Washington University in St. Louis.

It is this unique combination of both talent and perseverance, as well as her humor and humility, that make Nandi an exceptional student and human being.

A huge success, the sale raised $3000 both to help the literacy initiative and act as an affordable source of books for South students and teachers.

English Department Head Brian Baron came up with the idea to host a youth book sale two years ago. The PTSO, in conjunction with the English department, planned and organized the event, setting the price of paperbacks at $1 each, and hardcovers at $2.

According to volunteer Patrice Wilson, last year’s goal was to raise $400, but the final total came out to $2400.

Although that success set a high bar, this year’s totals surpassed last year’s; by May 26, one day before the end of the event, the book sale had already raised $2600.

South families helped out by donating used books two weeks prior to the sale in a pod provided by Pods of New England, a company that rents out storage devices.

As books accumulated in the pod, volunteers had to work every day to keep them organized. At one point, there was such a high volume of donated books that the organizers were forced to shut down the pods for two days in order to give volunteers time to organize and sort books.

According to Wilson, however, the book sale was easier to run this year because of the experience gained from running last year’s sale.
There are several uses for books that are not sold by the end of the book sale. The PTSO donates unsold children’s books to Lincoln-Eliot Elementary School to be used in a summer literacy initiative. Remaining books are picked up by the for-profit book re-use company Got Books and are sent to servicemen and women in Iraq and Afghanistan through the company’s Books for Troops program.

This year, unlike last year, teachers were given a preview of the book sale a day before the official start of the sale, and had the opportunity to pick up a free book.

Junior Melanie Rucinski, who purchased four books at the book sale, enjoyed the event and believes it is beneficial for the community.

“I think that it’s worth keeping as an annual event,” Rucinski said, adding that the only possible improvement for next year is to hold it in a larger area, such as Cutler Commons. “It was really hard to move around in such a small space, especially because there were so many people and everyone has backpacks.”

In addition to used books, over 200 copies of the school-wide summer reading book This I Believe 2 were sold at discounted prices.

“[The book sale] is a great way to help out the community in several different ways,” Wilson said. “At once, we are helping to promote literacy, recycle books and donate to the military.”

While there, he briefly met students and teachers who had left January 21 to perform in the celebration of the school.

Newton Public Schools and the Jingshan High School have been connected for over 30 years, with at least 20 student-teacher exchanges over the years.

While numerous families in Newton have hosted students and teachers from the Beijing school, Stembridge and other Newton administrators had the chance to visit China and reverse the roles.

“It was a really amazing opportunity for me,” Stembridge said. “What stood out [were] the importance of the Jingshan school in Beijing, the over-the-top celebration and performance… and how the Chinese government is orchestrating urban renewal.”

According to Stembridge, the trip consisted of two parts: the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Jingshan High School and a general tour of China, which consumed most of the trip.

After watching the celebration and performance at the high school, Stembridge had the chance to travel to the Henan province for site-seeing.

In Beijing, he visited an alumni gathering of the Newton-Jingshan exchange program, made an excursion to the Great Wall of China, attended the Intenational Education Forum, and shopped at the Pearl Market, among other activities.

His favorite part of the trip was the opportunity “to simply walk around and have a feel for how people are living now.”

He also had the chance to travel to the cities of Luoyang, Anyang, and Kaifeng, where he visited several cultural sites, including the White Horse Temple, Shaolin Temple, and the National Museum of Chinese Writing.

“There was a night market in Luoyang, with food stalls and many booths with all kinds of items for sale, that was especially vibrant and authentic,” he said. “The cultural sites were also amazing, but were so crowded that it was difficult for me to process and take it all in.”

Stembridge will put his experience in China to good use in the school’s study of the book This I Believe 2 next fall.

In January of 2007, when the plan to rebuild the school on a different site was still in its early stages, Newton residents voted to use taxpayer money from South to help pay for the cost of reconstruction at $197.5 million, an amount which made the new building the most expensive school ever to be built in Massachusetts.

Now, more than three years later, the project is in its final stages and­­­ the new building is close to completion.

On June 1, Turner Construction turned over ownership of the building to the city of Newton, making any non-design-related damages the city’s responsibility.

The old building is scheduled to be demolished next March at an estimated cost of around $10 million, which will be funded for the most part by taxpayers’ money, as well as by savings.

According to Chief Operating Officer Bob Rooney, the building will be fully demolished and the site will be cleaned out by the end of July.

At the moment, however, North administrators are working on selling and auctioning off old, unusable materials that will not be transferred to the new school. A yard sale on June 5 sold items such as records and old sports equipment to raise money for the city’s general fund.

Called the “Great North Yard Sale,” it was part of North’s Bringing Down the House, a three-day event meant to celebrate “student and community life at Newton North High School before the building closes its doors for the last time,” according to the North PTSO website.

The celebration, which took place June 4-6, involved a commemoration of the theatre program, Theatre Ink, as well as an Open House exhibition and the closing of a time capsule.

Current students, alumni, faculty, and parents of current and former students all attended the celebration, reflecting on their experiences with North and how their lives would change as a result of the new school.

Alumnus David A. Ford, who attended North from 1983-1986, is among those who are sad to see the old building be torn down.

“I have a lot of memories of being in the building,” he said. “I also have memories of running around the track field. I always loved to drive by here and I’m really going to miss seeing the old building.”

Senior Louis Loftus, who will not be attending the new school this fall, is also sad to see the building go.

Younger students, on the other hand, seem to be more excited about the switch.

“I’m definitely going to miss all the theatre, and Main Street,” freshman Caroline Loftus said. “But I’m still very excited about a new school, to start new memories.”

Sophomore Emily Schacter agrees.

“I’m sad, but really excited,” she said.

Despite differing opinions on the change to the new building, however, all current and former students, faculty, and parents have one thing in common: an appreciation for the strong academics, extracurricular offerings, and sense of community at North.

Parent Didier Putzeys, who has seen his four children graduate from North over the course of 10 years, most appreciates the diversity at North.

“[My favorite part] is the broad set of offerings, academic and social and cultural,” he said. “[Students] are exposed to a variety of people, of cultures, of knowledge.”

Interim superintendent Jim Marini, who attended North as a student from 1960-1963 and returned as a principal from 1990-1999, firmly believes that North is, and has always been, a place where students are nurtured and challenged and the community brings out the best in people.

“It’s a place where students can find their center, identify who they are as individuals… and are ready and prepared to move on to the bigger challenges beyond the school,” Marini said. “It is a fabulous place where people are respected for who they are, included, and made to feel important.”

Even with the change of location, Marini believes that the strong sense of community within the school will remain the same.

“What has not changed at North is the culture of the school… it is a place where the culture transcends time, individual people, and societal changes,” he said. “This culture is permanent.”

Teachers will have direct access to the software and will be able to directly enter any new information students whenever they are tardy or skips class.

Instead of leaving students in charge of their own grades and patterns of attendance, parents will receive notification e-mails alongside each update on their child, essentially tightening parental control over students.

Among other objectives, the program aims to minimize the number of errors caused by miscommunications.In the current system, teachers report any student who skips class to his or her house secretary or housemaster, who is then responsible for informing the student’s parents. Teachers will now have direct control over student attendance and grades with ParentConnect, however, there will likely be fewer mistakes in communication.

Since this program will have a great impact on how South functions, the software will only be instituted as a pilot program: if administrators view it as a failure by the end of the next school year, it will be dropped. In addition, parents will not be obligated to sign up for and use the program if they have no interest in doing so.

Despite these efforts for a smooth transition, however, there is a generally negative response to the program from students.Students mainly believe that the increased control that parents will have over their children will be detrimental, rather than beneficial, as the program will heighten stress levels and hinder the development of responsibility.

“I think as high school students, we should at this point be responsible for all our actions, lateness and homework included,” junior Julia Miller said. “Even though it’s probably a good idea for parents to know, there usually isn’t much they can force their kids to do.”

Junior Alissa Sage agreed. “I think that this policy should be taken into effect based on various individuals, not the school as a whole,” she said. “With high school comes a sense of freedom, and if a kid is skipping every history class, then his or her parent needs to know about it. But I don’t think that a parent needs to be notified if [students] have a missing homework or are late just once.”

After a lengthy process and much consideration, the Newton school committee decided that ParentConnect would be an asset to Newton schools.

While the committee will have another meeting about the program Monday, June 14, it is almost certain that South will implement the program next year. Despite the negative response from students, school committee members hope that the program will turn out to be successful.

Some students, although doubtful, are willing to give it a try.

“I think that it might be a good idea, if it might provide an incentive for people not to skip since their parents might be notified,” junior Adrian Montagut said. “But at the same time, it erodes student-faculty trust.”

Ma remembers Andy von Guerard as more than a colleague and friend.

“So far as male bonding goes, we were almost on a bromantic level,” Ma said. “We were very close since we were the only male, non-boss employees [at our workplace].”

Like many, Ma has mourned over the tragic death of 21-year-old von Guerard on May 17, who ran a red light at the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Homer Street and collided with a sports utility vehicle.

It was Newton’s first bike-related fatality in three years.

Von Guerard was pronounced dead after being transported to Beth Israel Hospital by ambulance shortly after the collision. He had not been wearing a helmet.

Ma had worked with von Guerard at the Taste Coffeehouse in Newtonville for almost a year.

Ma, who often refers to von Guerard as a “space cadet,” recalled how many of the regular customers would come in just to have a chat with von Guerard.

“He always gets the job done, and he always does it with a smile on his face,” Ma said.

Von Guerard was originally from Grand Junction, Colorado, and has been living in Waltham since August 2009. He was an online student at Mesa State University and had turned 21 on April 30, about two weeks before his accident.

“I think everyone should learn to truly appreciate their friends every day,” Ma said. “You have to let them know that you… appreciate them for being there and helping you out. Otherwise you would feel so mad at yourself for missing an opportunity to tell them what you always wanted to say if something happened to them.”

Senior Yuji Wakimoto, like many other South students and teachers, bikes regularly to school.

“[Von Guerard’s death] definitely brings awareness to paying attention on the street for both the driver and the cyclist,” Wakimoto said. “You never think this situation would happen.”

After von Guerard’s accident, another 40-year-old cyclist was ran over on May 27 while cycling east on Commonwealth Avenue.

According to a Newton TAB article, a red Toyota Corolla had knocked the cyclist over and pulled him under the car.

The cyclist survived, and the city is now working harder to enforce bicycle safety. Mayor Setti Warren hopes to develop a five to 10-year plan that will possibly install bicycle lanes.

Warren, BikeNewton, and the Bicycle/Pedestrian Task Force said that they were attemting to increase bicycle safety even before the accidents through advocacy for bike lanes.

It was quiet compared to 2003, when the newspaper took a quantum leap by instituting no less than four major changes—propelling Denebola into an age of the newer, digital technologies.

Rather than “pasting up” with real paste, rubber cement, wax, sticking our “pages” on “boards” with super-toxic Spraymount, we composed articles on the computer screen and inserted or uploaded them onto and into digital pages.

Those pages were larger, broadsheet the size of the New York Times instead of much smaller tabloid.

For decades Denebola asserted the “truth” was in “black and white,” which was a polite cover for the fact that the newspaper did not run its images—or anything else—in color. During the 2003-2004 year we changed our mind,

Decades and more Denebola was “sent up” to its steadfast, long-suffering printer/banker in Belmont, later Portsmouth by either driving the boards over before midnight, or, racing to the 128 FedEx (still later Logan Airport, desperately later, 72 desolate miles north to New Hampshire). Now, wonder of wonders, our electronic newspaper went—literally and digital—in bits and bytes having been pdf’d.

So our format was transformed first by size, then by color, then by composition and finally by the way the printer received our images, graphics and text.

So, what happened recently? Partly in response to the press of turning over issues from the standard 24 pages to monster 72 GRAD, Denebola instituted a print/publish test. Printing a monthly edition with a certain number of pages but publishing—on our www.denebolaonline.net website—a larger number/amount of images, graphics and text.

We know more and more of what was printed in magazines and newspapers is “going to the web” but we continue to believe that the “craft” of journalism—in all its aspects—is best learned and practiced first in the “old fashioned” medium of print.

. Stay tuned.

* * * *

Another colleague deserves mention, in part because he deserves an apology.

Newspaper corrections are usually served up either near p1 or on the Edit Page. We mean no disrespect explaining our gaff to Dr. Marshall A. Cohen in the Advisor’s Note…we have jammed all the other space with text or ads and since he and I are long-time colleagues and friends, it’s here Dr. Cohen gets the correction.

What happened? In May Denebola published a review of Diane Ravitch’s best-selling new book. An authority on schools and school reform, a conservative authority, Ravitch appeared to have done a 180 on such conservative stock-in-trade as testing, school choice and teacher training and evaluation.

For two decades we’ve relied upon Dr. Cohen for at least one hefty, well-thought and well-written review, and Ravitch in May seemed a no-brainer. Alas, time constraints meant no article but Dr. Cohen agreed to an interview.

As usual, his considerable knowledge and shrewd assessments were everywhere in evidence, without much difficulty the interview was edited and laid on the page.

But Denebola did not indicate what was printed was not Dr. Cohen’s usual written account but, in effect, an oral one. Does it matter? Certainly, and not only because as any Freshman knows, writing is within our current culture more ordered and focused, more precise and analytic, following forms of logic stretching back to Classical rhetoric.

Valued contributor, Dr. Cohen our apology.

For the past 50 years, Denebola has done something extraordinary. Through all of the changes that Newton South and the world around it have gone through, this newspaper has continuously published each month of the academic year for 50 years.

Now there must be a key to this success, for how else has this newspaper’s annually changing staff and leadership team managed to accomplish what they have?

Much, as one can imagine, has changed over 50 years: students, teachers, principals, and advisors. But what has remained constant is the set of traditions that Denebola’s changing leadership have regarded so dearly – a collection of ideas about what it means to be scholastic journalists at Newton South, centering on a dual responsibility to the paper’s readers and contributors.

But fulfilling this responsibility is a tricky thing to do – just ask any of the 400+ senior editors who have sought to do so over the last half-century. It’s not always easy to balance the needs of the paper with the needs of its contributors or its readers.

It is in perpetually trying to fulfill this responsibility that Denebola’s editors engage in experiential learning. This is learning through doing, trying things out, and making mistakes – discussing, analyzing, and solving problems as they arise. It is this never-ending process that keeps editors engaged with their work, driving them to move right along and, not only make a paper, but also build community within and outside of the walls of 9202.

In my humble opinion, it is this commitment to responsibility – and, consequently, experiential learning – that has fueled the newspaper’s staff and senior editors for the last 50 years. Each volume, diverse in both composition and style, has found a way to work together – with their staff and the larger community – to accomplish a wide array of personal, social, professional, academic, and journalistic goals.

It’s all because of learning, something we often associate with classrooms and whiteboards. But on Denebola – like with athletics, theatre, and other activities – it’s different; it’s about learning who you are and what you want to do, figuring out how you fit into the extended community that is the world around us.

This is what has kept this newspaper going for 50 years and will continue to in the future; the students who choose to participate do so much more than make a newspaper – Denebola is, above all, a didactic vehicle for exploration. No one student has the same journey, but each comes out having experienced a number of lifelong lessons.

So remember, we’re all learning…just some more than others.