Since 1988, the Newton community has held a strong connection to San Juan del Sur, a town on the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua. Strengthening the bond, dedicated churches, schools, and volunteer groups have traveled from Newton to help out the town by performing beneficial community service projects for the community.

Newton has a large immigrant population that is vibrantly reflected at South. Many students spent much of their lives in their mother countries, imigrating to the United States during their teen years or childhood. How exactly do first generation immigrants integrate and thrive in an American public high school?

Maybe not, but in this neck of the woods, the wind is picking up... Cultural clashes have existed since the beginning of humanity, often appearing in literature, television, and the general progression of history through time. Differences in custom, social class, and etiquette are some of the main reasons for familial conflict in today's world. Pop culture has embraced this aspect of life, such as in the novel The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, or the film My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

For many freshmen, club fairs can generate some serious discomfort. Colorful posters and display tables line the cafeteria walls as energetic students solicit names of unsuspecting freshmen for their club emailing lists.

Newton South students are notorious for their skewed view of college, often resulting in long sleepless nights spent completing piles of homework. What these high-strung insomniacs may be surprised to hear, is that the “straight A student they are giving up so much to be, isn't necessarily what colleges are looking for.

My life, to say the least, is overbooked. I am constantly on the go and I rarely take a break. Some think I am crazy for spreading myself so thin, but I'm passionate about eveything I do. Though it's time consuming to be so involved in the community, I'm fully committed to doing what I love to do.

The joke is that a breakthrough in renewable energy is only 30 years away– and will always be only 30 years away.

“In Iran, we don't have homosexuals like in your country, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech at Columbia University in September, 2007. Although many in the audience took this statement in jest, the truth is that Ahmadinejad didn't have a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

American media culture has no doubt changed since the days when TV first started out. In 1956, for instance, Elvis Presley was only shown waist-up on the Ed Sullivan show because his provocative dancing, deemed too inappropriate for the public, caused much discussion and concern. Only 50 years later, TV shows are exploring topics such as sexuality, teenage pregnancy and homosexuality, and viewers have certainly been affected by these unorthodox themes.