 by Maria Charry and Michael Glushko
The Wellness Center just opened and it’s here for students that need to recoup and recover during the school day. Whether you need to fidget or you just want someone to talk to, the WHS Wellness Center is for you. The Wellness Center is run by school counselor Mrs. Conoscenti and social worker Mrs. Kremer. “We wanted to create a space where students can come, work on something that’s going to actively calm them down, and get them ready to go back to class.” One of the great things that the Wellness Center provides is just a place to talk. Everybody needs someone to talk to at some point and many might not feel comfortable doing that in class, if your school counselor is unavailable, you have the option of talking to Ms. Conoscenti and Ms. Kremer or your fellow students. “We just wanted to make sure that kids weren’t being missed, so they weren’t hiding in the bathrooms, and that they weren’t going home unnecessarily. That they had a space where they could regroup and return to class,” explained Ms. Kremer. The Wellness Center provides students a community in which they can be open and comfortable around others. These fifteen minute breaks let you take a breather from school and it is a great alternative to going in the bathroom or just straight up leaving school. Also the Wellness Center provides you with great strategies to help your mental health, like coloring, journaling, socializing with others that might be feeling the same way, guided breathing, and making bracelets. Another great resource that is provided is the Wellness Group, which is hosted every Wednesday. You can sign up for these thirty minute sessions by either stopping by or scanning the QR code posted on the walls around the school right next to the posters which they have put up. The first Wellness Group is currently set up and running, but there will be other opportunities to join throughout this year. Groups are 6-8 weeks long and meet during rotating periods so that you don’t miss the same class twice. “We had 44 students come in on Monday and 55 students come in on Tuesday.” Answered Ms. Conoscenti to my question about how many students are accessing the Wellness Center. If that number turns you off, don’t worry because the Wellness Center has two side rooms which you could find more privacy, but if you’re someone with social anxiety, then definitely try practicing socializing with others while you stay there, it could definitely be place where you learn to control that anxiety and then take those practices to busier places. I definitely do recommend that you check out the Wellness Center at least once. It’s one of the most comfortable rooms in the school and is a great place to just sit down, maybe do one of the puzzles that they have or play around with their fidgets.
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 by Sean O’Leary and Dylan Romagnoli
This past year, the Wethersfield Eagles Baseball team made a run for themselves in the playoffs. The Eagles made it to the quarterfinals where they would be topped by Notre Dame 7-5. This team consisted of extremely young players, with some upperclassmen leadership. The talent on this young Eagles team is evident and the run that the Eagles made in playoffs was extremely impressive. The Eagles went 16-6 over the course of the 2021-2022 season. This was a great feat for this group of young men, as the young underclassmen were able to step up and fit into the roles necessary to make their run this past season. We sat down with Eagles Baseball senior infielder Nick Farrelly and asked some questions based on his outlook for the upcoming season. Nick Farrelly was a key player for the Eagles by holding down the infield with his sleek defensive plays along with being a reliable contact hitter who could be counted on to get the ball in play. When asked how he plans to lead the team, Farrelly said, “I go about it like I would with any team, just trying to do my part. Some captains try to take control of the team, and think they are above everyone else. That is not me. I am simply just a player on the team, who happens to be the one who is most vocal, who gets the team going, and leads them on and off the field.” This shows his selfless traits in which he uses to build relationships with his teammates to gain success. Farrelly continued to talk about building relationships by saying, “As long as my relationships with the players are solid, and we all trust each other, that's all I could ask for. I have played with these guys my entire life. We grew up playing together, I have played summer and falls with them, built friendships with many of them”. As the senior captain plans to develop these relationships and rely on his trust with his teammates. Farrelly expects his teammates to be working in the offseason and said, “The main thing is trying to do all of this with as much of the team as possible. If we start to grind and work together, the more comfortable we become. It just gets us ready for the season”. Eagles Baseball are determined to build on their recent success this season and work to bring home the state championship. They believe in the captains and the underclassmen look to guys like Nick Farrelly for leadership in their long season. The Eagles look forward to their season this spring and want to continue their recent success.  by Lana Saccuzzo
The Literary Magazine art club gets together every Friday, where more than 30 students from all grade levels show up to showcase and talk about their creations. Why is this club so important to the school and its students? I talked to Yazmin Pereyra who has been a part of the club since freshman year in Wethersfield High School and she talks about her experience. Pereyra said, “This is my fourth year in the club. I originally heard about it from my sister's friend and I've been attending it since. The bonds and connections I have with people I've met there are very strong and special to me.” Not only is this a club solely for the purpose of showing your creations to your peers, but making new friends and connecting with people who have the same interests as you. May I add, I am also a member of Litmag and I have made very close bonds with so many people in the club. It's a very fun and bustling atmosphere with lots of socialization and very positive people. We have a new president this year as well as a vice president, secretary and officers. Yazmin is also an officer, or art consultant this year, and she says that being promoted to such a position is new but very fun and it's a good way to interact with people that might be shy to show their work. Every year, Litmag hosts a slam at either Barnes and Noble or the Wethersfield Public Library to showcase the best works members of the club decide to present. It brings our peers and group together because we're all doing something together. “It's a lot more than presenting to just your group and people you know, because you're showing your work to a bunch of unfamiliar faces. It's really helpful to have your friends there as a support system though, it eases the stress.” Presenting is always optional but recommended for being in the club. Mrs. George, the head of the club, always pushes the members to do their best and step out of their comfort zone to try something new. Of course, no one HAS to present but having members show their work helps other people get more comfortable and involved. We also have an art booklet that is made after every school year to show everyone's progress and pieces. Litmag is a great club and if you're interested in literature and arts/photography, you should definitely check it out!  By Daniel Nerenxa and Ethan Guay Wethersfield Football has been on a rollercoaster ever since COVID-19 hit back in 2020, disrupting their highly anticipated season. The Eagles are coming off of a season that consisted of missing the playoffs after finishing 6-4 behind then-freshman Quarterback Camden Righi and junior Wide Receiver Ethan Lemos. Coming into the new season, hopes are high for both Lemos and the Eagles, who currently sit at 4-1 on the season. Now WR1 on the Eagles' depth chart, Lemos posted 24 receptions for 340 yards last season with a total of 5 touchdowns. He comes into this season hoping to improve on his previous seasons' stats, as he says, “I hope that I will do good, that we will make the playoffs, and that we will go far in the playoffs.” Lemos currently has 15 receptions for 281 yards and 3 touchdowns through a total of 5 games. He is already on pace to crush his previous season's stats with 5 games remaining in the season. Another breakout star for the Eagles is senior offensive lineman Evin Adhin, who is coming off a season-ending leg surgery last year. Through the first half of the season, Adhin hasn’t allowed a single sack and records 4 pancakes on the season as of October 6, 2022  Lemos and Adhin at WHS Homecoming Both Lemos and Adhin have unfortunately missed out on their sophomore years due to the circumstances of COVID-19. When asked about how COVID had impacted their high school careers, both Adhin and Lemos shared strong feelings on the topic. Adhin tells us, “Losing my sophomore year has affected my development as a football player and understanding of the sport”. Lemos shared similar thoughts, telling us, it affected his career because he lost a full year.
We were able to get interviews with both core seniors before their 14-7 win over the Enfield Eagles in Friday night’s homecoming game. Off to a phenomenal start, we were able to ask the senior offensive lineman what his goals were for the team this season. Adhin tells us, “My hopes are to stay healthy, have fun, and have a successful season”. Following that, we were wondering what these athletes were planning for after their final season comes to an end. Is football in college an option? Well, we got the answers from the seniors themselves, as Lemos tells us that he is leaning more towards baseball after high school rather than football, his final decision however hasn’t been made yet. Adhin tells us, “Right now, I'm talking to a few different colleges.” He continues to go on to say, “Football is definitely something that I would like to continue in college” It is clear the Eagles are aiming for a State Championship run this year, and they have the talent to do so. Led by third-year head coach Matthew Mckinnon and an amazing senior class, the Wethersfield Eagles go into their bye week soaring with confidence. As the Eagles have two weeks to prepare for their away contest against the 1-4 Hall Titans, hopes are high for the Eagles to win out. The road ahead for the Eagles won’t be an easy one but if they continue to play at an elite level, their hopes of a State Title become more and more achievable.  Mrs. McKenna's class in their Flannel Day attire. by David Nerenxa and Karlee Ellegard No one knows school spirit like the staff and students at WHS! This week, we had our annual fall spirit week where everyone dressed up in a specific theme for that day. The themes for each day were; Monday: Flannel Day, Tuesday: Neon Wars, Wednesday: Pink Out, Thursday: Anything but a Backpack, and lastly Friday: WHS Colors, which ended this great week with a pep rally! We interviewed Kelly Vallera, a senior at WHS, to see what she thought about spirit week, and she had a lot to say! “I loved spirit week, there was so much school spirit!” she said, “The themes for this spirit week were so much fun, however, I only participated in flannel day, pink day, and eagle colors day.” The reason for this being that she didn’t have the right attire.  Senior Dylan Romagnoli participated in the games that they had at lunch, saying “I liked it because you got prizes and they were fun.”
One of those games he played was, “What would you do for a Klondike Bar?” He answered a question and won a Klondike bar for answering. Another one he completed was where you have a fruit roll up race with a friend. We also interviewed LMC specialist Mrs. Harding and she said, “Spirit week was so amazing! Honestly, I was super surprised that students along with staff participated. Usually, no one ever does, so to see WHS actually have school spirit is just wonderful!” She also stated, “I loved pink day, it was definitely my favorite. I just wish I could’ve participated in more days. Overall, it was such a blast and I’m also glad we ended this week with a pep rally.” As you can tell, students and staff had such a great time participating in spirit week. Everyone, including us, loved spirit week and if you’re reading this and are contemplating whether or not you should participate in an upcoming spirit week, DEFINITELY DO!  By Dennis Gega and Colin Shanley
Cross country is one of the lesser-known sports offered by WHS, it consists of long-distance running, which isn’t an activity the student body is fond of. Remember the mile you so dread running in PE? Well, the average cross-country race is three miles long. So, how can one prepare himself for such physical feats? Today we’ll interview Ryan Gagne and Jeffrey Sanborn to find out. Ryan Gagne is the top runner in Wethersfield. He has been on the varsity lineup since his freshman year and has been the #1 runner since his junior year. He has gone all the way to compete in the New England championship and he is in the top 5 in the state of Connecticut for cross country. He works hard for what he has accomplished and lives a busy life. Gagne starts his day getting ready for school and heads to his first class. He takes his academics very seriously and does well in all of his classes with mostly A’s. He then heads off to practice, where on a typical practice day, he will run 6-10 miles depending on the workout Coach Sanborn gives him and the rest of the team. Like many runners of his caliber, Ryan takes recovery very seriously. He makes sure he stretches and rolls out his muscles for at least 30 minutes a day to ensure minimal soreness and maintains a healthy diet with his pre-prepared meals and homemade dinners made by his mom. He makes sure he gets the proper nutrients with every meal by eating fruits and vegetables and eating things with high levels of carbs and protein. He also makes sure he gets enough sleep every day, with around 6-8 hours of sleep each night and takes a nap in his time between school and practice. With all of this in his life, he lives with a lot of weight on his shoulders. He has many goals that he has for himself that he needs to complete, along with the balance of school and his other extracurricular activities. He said, “There are times where I am really stressed out.” When asked how he overcomes this pressure, he states, “I just run. I feel fine after I run.” Running is a big part of his life and will be in his future. It is his way of exercising, clearing his head, and life. This season, Ryan hopes to go back to the New England Championship for the 2nd year in a row and make a name for himself to colleges across the region. Jeffrey Sanborn coaches cross country, indoor, and outdoor track at WHS. He’s a very experienced coach, having coached for more than 20 years, he also competed in cross country and track in high school and college. His day begins at 4:30: he wakes up, has breakfast, and heads to Healthtrax, where he works as a manager. At noon, he heads home to have breakfast and rests until 2:30, which is when practice begins. One of the most important factors in a cross country’s team success is the workout program. When asked about how he plans workouts for the team Sanborn replied by explaining how he has to plan for many skill levels as “The team is all over the place”. Some are brand new to running while others are more experienced and require more mileage. Normal practices end at 5, while races end at 6:30. Sanborn then heads home and has some time to relax, cook himself some food, and sleep. Back in his high school years, he remembers having a hectic schedule with not much time off. As his dedication to academics and sports filled up the majority of his schedule Sanborn says, “Sundays were my only day off.” So why would you want your day to look like this? Sanborn calls cross country a “lifelong sport” that brings about many benefits, both mental and physical. Another quality of the cross country team is its low-stress environment. “It doesn’t matter if you come first or last,” he said, and that self-improvement is always going to be the goal.  by: Kevin Peling and Kian Huynh
Since the pandemic, streaming services have been on the rise. Hit streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and many more services have put cable tv on the back burner. Companies make more shows and make more money, thus being able to make better and more quality shows giving viewers more choices. Since there is a plethora of shows and entertainment these days, it raises the question: What are people watching? Due to COVID, there has been a significant increase in steaming sales at a record-breaking pace. Since 2019, there has been a 30% increase in sales for just Netflix. Other streaming platforms like Disney+ have grown to be making $19.2 billion in just 2 years. In an interview with senior Colin Shanley, he talked about a show called “Vikings” on Prime Video. It is about Vikings traveling around the world, conquering the land. Colin likes this show because, “It's a very interesting show with lots of action and little to no filler episodes.” He also said, “There is always something going on in the show.” He likes to watch shows with his family on the weekends. We also spoke with Owen Carey, a junior at Wethersfield High School. In our interview, we talked about his favorite show called “Rick and Morty.” He said he enjoyed the “explicit” and “hilarious” jokes. Owen uses Hulu exclusively saying, “Ads shouldn’t be on TV or streaming services” I took his word for it as he watched Hulu for 12 hours in one sitting with not a single ad in sight. In another interview, we interviewed Ms. Cerderia, a student teacher for Mr. Martin’s journalism class, we talked about what shows she watched recently, some of these consist of “Riverdale,” “Bridgerton,” and the most recent season of “Stranger Things.” She says she watches “Only two hours, in my bed with my laptop.” As a college student who is focusing on studies, this isn’t too surprising. Senior Kyle Smith is also an avid TV watcher. His favorite show is “The Office.” During the interview, he said that he enjoys watching the comedy because, “I enjoy the cast and the plot line of the show.”He also said “I watch TV when I’m doing homework or washing dishes.” He spends roughly 20 hours a week watching TV in his room. Overall, these students expressed how they enjoyed using streaming services. Is streaming services the way to go now? Write down in the comments if you prefer cable TV or streaming services and what you’re watching. Captains and managers are looking forward to another chance at becoming state champ  By Olivia Krout and Cora Tinker Last year during the athletic season of Fall 2021, the WHS field hockey team made it to the state finals before losing to Guilford. This year, the team hopes to recreate their success, but take it one step further and become state champions. “I think we definitely have the potential to make it there again,” said senior Gabriella Tomaino, one of three varsity captains. Cheryl Gleason was a team member playing for the freshman and JV teams until her senior season this year when she made the switch to varsity manager. “It was great to see my friends take their team and WHS that far last fall. It was a disappointing loss, but I was proud of them anyway.” Olivia Pellegrino was a manager of the team during their close state win last year. “It was so exhilarating, so exciting even though I wasn’t the one playing, it was so amazing watching the girls compete so hard and them getting so excited.”  Gleason and Pellegrino don't play or practice with the team, but they have a unique insight into players' stats and potential. Responsible for marking down fouls, corners, and goals, they attend every game and track all progress. “We lost a lot of our starters and there was a lot of talent in our graduating class last year, but I believe that with our work ethic we can get there again,” Gleason said when asked about the team’s future prospects.
Gleason isn’t the only one who’s noticed the absence of the Class of ‘22 on the field. “I have played field hockey for 7 years and this is the first year that I've played without the girls in the grade above me. But even though I don't have them to look up to on the field anymore, I am trying to be that person that some of the younger girls on the team can look up to,” said Maddie Gove, a team captain and senior, who was a part of last year’s varsity team. Despite the noticeable loss, this year's field hockey team has a record of 5 wins, 1 loss, and 1 overtime tie with a potential place in the 2022 State Finals. Although they have a long fight ahead of them, they have WHS’s unwavering support and we are all rooting for them.  by Sean O’Leary and Dylan Romagnoli
This past year, the Wethersfield Eagles Baseball team made a run for themselves in the playoffs. The Eagles made it to the quarterfinals where they would be topped by Notre Dame 7-5. This team consisted of extremely young players, with some upperclassmen leadership. The talent on this young Eagles team is evident and the run that the Eagles made in playoffs was extremely impressive. The Eagles went 16-6 over the course of the 2021-2022 season. This was a great feat for this group of young men, as the young underclassmen were able to step up and fit into the roles necessary to make their run this past season. We sat down with Eagles Baseball senior infielder Nick Farrelly and asked some questions based on his outlook for the upcoming season. Nick Farrelly was a key player for the Eagles by holding down the infield with his sleek defensive plays along with being a reliable contact hitter who could be counted on to get the ball in play. When asked how he plans to lead the team, Farrelly said, “I go about it like I would with any team, just trying to do my part. Some captains try to take control of the team, and think they are above everyone else. That is not me. I am simply just a player on the team, who happens to be the one who is most vocal, who gets the team going, and leads them on and off the field.” This shows his selfless traits in which he uses to build relationships with his teammates to gain success. Farrelly continued to talk about building relationships by saying, “As long as my relationships with the players are solid, and we all trust each other, that's all I could ask for. I have played with these guys my entire life. We grew up playing together, I have played summer and falls with them, built friendships with many of them." As the senior captain plans to develop these relationships and rely on his trust with his teammates. Farrelly expects his teammates to be working in the offseason and said, “The main thing is trying to do all of this with as much of the team as possible. If we start to grind and work together, the more comfortable we become. It just gets us ready for the season." Eagles Baseball are determined to build on their recent success this season and work to bring home the state championship. They believe in the captains and the underclassmen look to guys like Nick Farrelly for leadership in their long season. The Eagles look forward to their season this spring and want to continue their recent success. Going around and getting people's favorite teams and why by Owen Carey
With the start of the NHL 2022-2023 season, I went around Wethersfield High School and asked students and teachers what their favorite NHL team is and why, here is what they had to say. I asked Jack Millen, a senior on the WHS hockey team what his favorite hockey team is and why and here's what he said: ”The Tampa Bay Lightning because they won back to back.” I also came across Anthony Ruck also on the WHS hockey team and he said, ''The [Washington] Capitals because I have to stay loyal to Ovechkin”. Ruck wants to stay loyal to Ovechkin because he is called “The Great 8” because he's second all time with the most goals behind “The Great One” Wayne Gretzky and he's going to pass him in the next few years, and so Anthony Ruck stays loyal because he knows one day Ovechkin will be the best. Meanwhile, after Ruck I asked Sean O'leary on the WHS hockey team the same question and he said, “The Bruins because they're a good all around team.” He also loves how they always go to hospitals during the winter. He also said, “Patrice Bergeron is the best player but he said they're not going to win the cup this year.” In the cafeteria, I saw Athletic Director Mr. Maltese and asked him what his favorite team is. He put a very nice local spin to his answer when he said, ''The Wethersfield Eagles because of all great things on and off the ice for the town. Also how they give good promotion for students to come and watch and how they always do charity games”. Later in the day I ran into Matt Snieder and Owen Thulen both on the WHS hockey team and Matt said” the Bruins because I watched them all the time growing up”. And OWen said” Penguins- because Fleury is my favorite goalie of all time and he was on that team so I like Pittsburgh and my dad and I grew up watching them”. |
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Photos from shixart1985 (CC BY 2.0), verchmarco (CC BY 2.0), governortomwolf, Marianne Bevis, shixart1985, verchmarco, shixart1985
