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By: Haley Krawczyk I was given the task of developing a 30 day challenge for journalism; something that is intended to make me a better person. After consideration, a worldwide pandemic seems like an ideal time to get into shape, so I decided to see what 30 days of exercise could do for my body. I have always loved to workout, but I normally had a swim practice to go to every day to force me to exercise. With the outbreak of COVID-19, sports are cancelled, leaving athletes to fend for themselves while still maintaining their physique for next season. Luckily, I have access to a home gym. This is helpful for use of equipment, but of course, there are countless workouts that require none at all. For example, I have been going on walks, runs, and hikes everyday to get outside and be in a different environment.  To the right is a picture of my elliptical workout from about halfway through the first week. This has actually been my first week owning this piece of equipment and I absolutely love it.
After the first week of this project, the largest take-away is that I need more of a structure with my workouts. I can hop on an elliptical or go for a run when I feel like it, but what if I’m not in the mood? What is going to force me to exercise? I believe that goal-setting is something I should make a priority by giving myself weekly goals that I want to accomplish. Maybe completing an online workout video everyday or doing a certain number of sit-ups. Ultimately, I realized that the second week of this experiment needs to include a written plan; a checklist that I can mark off as completed. This paper will be openly displayed so that I am forced to be reminded of my workout plan, and encouraged to do it as well. Having this type of written structure will hopefully give me a starting point to work off of, as there were several days when I found myself lost on what to do for exercise. Numerous companies such as Nike have apps designed for at-home workouts. Also, influences make videos on YouTube for the same purpose. Those are both things that I will look into in order to help me discover new exercises and routines for the weeks to come.
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 by: Emily Fazzina
Over this “coronacation,” it can get very easy to become bored of the same things that exist in our daily lives. But for me, this boredom didn't start during the shutdown. In fact, this boredom started after December break. I started to become a lot lazier and less on top of homework, and other activities throughout my life. Due to the decreased energy, it becomes a lot easier for me to get disinterested with things and tasks I give myself. So I decided to orient my project around trying to keep myself busy with different tasks every day. Because of the way I’m doing the project, I don’t necessarily make a ton of progress each week, because I try to stretch out my projects so I have more to do. For example, I’m painting a mural of old “Cartoon Network” shows I used to watch as a kid. I started this mural last May, but I procrastinate so much that I haven't finished it yet. One of my overall goals is to try to finish this mural over the Corona break. Another thing that I’ve always wanted to do was learn American Sign Language (ASL). I’ve always thought it was a super cool thing to learn that not many people know how to use. I also gave myself other small tasks like staying on top of homework, planning for college, painting my closet door, going outside at least four times a week, and lastly I want make a podcast with my brother. So far I’ve gone outside a lot and I’ve done about 20% more of my wall in the past couple of weeks than I have in a long while. Staying on top of homework has been a weekly thing for me as well. Through first two week of the shutdown, I was studying ASL but I haven’t gotten a chance recently to continue. I’ve also been playing a lot of [the videogame phenomenon] Minecraft when I feel myself getting bored and somehow it gives me energy to organize and clean. Next week, I plan on setting up a place for the podcast, continuing to paint, and catch up on my ASL learning. My overall goal is to be productive and manage my time better before I head off to college.  By:Andrew Desrochers
During this terrible Covid-19 pandemic there are many things that are being taken away from us, but one thing that everyone can do during this time is to better themselves by pushing to be a better person. You can better yourself either physically or mentally. I decided to not eat red meat, and do 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups every day for the next 30 days. I chose to do this because I am usually going to the gym most days and playing sports, but I can’t do that now with all that is going on. I figured this would be a good way to stay in shape while being at home. Corona has taken a lot away from me with baseball and graduation up in the air, but I am going to try my hardest to stay in shape and keep working hard. At first, I thought this challenge would be easy but it has turned out to be very difficult. The first day the pushups and sit-ups were very easy. But for the next days, it began to get harder as my body got sore. For the next coming weeks I hope to keep accomplishing my goal for the workout because I want to make it all 30 days without giving up.  by: Lauren Cholewa
As my project for journalism class, I decided to perform yoga at some point every day for many reasons. I live with depression and anxiety due to past events in my life and because it simply runs in my family. Yoga is a very challenging activity depending on the level you participate in. According to WebMd [webmd.com] there are various benefits of doing yoga daily, including strength, flexibility and mind-body awareness. It can also help with relaxation and energization. As someone who has struggled with anxiety, I have started doing yoga daily, sometimes even during the times I had been having anxiety. My anxiety usually comes when I start to let my mind wander, over-think things, and start to feel eyes on me. According to yogajournal.com, yoga is a very beneficial activity for not only your body but also your mind, some of these benefits are better posture, builds muscle, prevents cartilage and joint breakage, drops your blood pressure and makes you happier. During this process it has been hard to get up and get active during this time in the world because I have nothing else to do other than stay and bed and watch Netflix, which is what most high schoolers dream they could do. When I would start to feel antsy and start to get the familiar ache in my chest, I get up and go to the middle of my room, or if it were nice outside I bring my yoga mat outside to my back patio and do yoga. The beginning of doing yoga every day was kind of difficult and hard to figure out what positions I wanted to do and why but as time went on, I figured out my rhythm. It has extremely affected my emotional and physical health by doing yoga when coming through with anxiety or when my body feels tense and very sore from sleeping the wrong way and tossing and turning in bed. To ease my anxiety, I start with sun salutation and control my breathing then bring my body down to warrior 1 and warrior 2 and continue into downward dog and upward dog. The reason I use these positions is because I have learned that these were the constant positions where I could subconsciously control my breathing. If you suffer from anxiety, depression etc. or just want to move in some way and get active, yoga is definitely an activity that you can do individually or with a group of friends to destress from a test or school. It’s been an amazing way to get blood flowing. From tennis to workouts at home: How athletics have changed with the cancellation of spring sports4/21/2020 By: Clarence Jubac Students taking the journalism class for Mr. Martin were tasked with a project during our time in quarantine. This project allowed students to set a personal goal of whatever they wanted for themselves. For my project, I decided that I wanted to stay in shape by working out at home. I had to make the best of what I had at home with the small variety of different weights and equipment I have. But even though I didn’t have a whole ton of things to make staying in shape easier for me, I was still able to manage, but didn’t have any clue on what exercises I could do to put them to use. As I said before, I chose this topic for my project as a way to keep in shape, and just to get stronger while at home. My normal day to day life of exercise and working out before this project was just playing tennis at least four days a week, or going out as much as I could. This project gave me the opportunity to mix things up a bit, and start adding a variety of other ways for me to get some exercise. I started off by looking into some videos and websites online on what are good workouts I could do at home with minimal use of equipment.  I decided to base my workouts and exercise off this fitness channel called OFFICIALTHENX. The channel happened to have their own app too, so I used that to help follow along and see how to do these exercises. The app is free and has a bunch of content and videos to see, but only to the naked eye. Once you click one of the workout programs, and start doing the workouts that are set for each week, you see that some workouts are locked since you don’t have that special membership. So I hope that by writing about them, they could hook me up on a deal to fix just that🙏🙏🙏.
During the days I worked out, I’d sometimes start by either going for a run or playing street tennis, most of the time I’d go to the high school for that. After about an hour of street tennis, I’d start doing the no equipment needed exercises on the THENX app that provided exercises for each week, and lift weights for a few minutes afterwards. I have to say that completing the first week of going off the workouts of the app wasn’t too bad for me. When it really started to get tough was the week afterwards. My body felt numb and sore from doing the workouts of the second week, and it seemed that my body still hasn’t adapted to this new change of pace. This continued on a bit for the next week after that, but I felt like I was starting to get used to it, and the soreness started going away in the following days. I’ll admit that although the weekly workouts had rest days set up, I did take an extra day or two because I just didn’t feel like doing anything. Overall, I’d say that I have achieved my goal to stay and shape, and maybe have even gotten a bit stronger along the way. This project and the time I had in quarantine has given me the opportunity to find something I truly think has become a good habit of mine, and is something that’ll lead me to a healthier life down the road. by: Bryce Arnold For my long-term project, I chose to document my progress in my weightlifting. This is a log of what lifts I’m doing, how much I lift at the start, and again at the end. The lifts I have been doing are bench press, lat pulls, calf raises, curls, and squats. The sets for all lifts except for calf raises and curls are 10-8-6 reps, and they increase by 10l bs every set. For calf raises, I do 12-14-16 reps of the same weight, and for curls I do 3x10 reps of the same weight. I chose to do this because I want to start to get ready for the college wrestling season. I know that at the next level, everyone is going to be much stronger than they were in high school, and that’s something I need to be prepared for. This is a big deal for me because I am moving up in weight (from 113 lbs to 125). This puts me way behind all the other people who are cutting huge amounts of weight to make it to 125 lbs, so I have my work cut out for me. So far, I have been making steady progress in all my lifts. In the bench press, I increased 20lbs (I started at 115lbs for my 1st set of 10 and I’m at 135lbs right now) as well as in my squat (165lbs for my 1st set of 10 to 185lbs). I also went up 10lbs in lat pulls (90lbs for my 1st set of 10 to 100lbs). I have learned that this won’t be easy. Doing these lifts 3 times a week really takes a toll on your body, and sometimes it’s hard to get myself to do it. I still do it, though, and hopefully this will pay off once the next season rolls around. I have no specific goals for next week, but I want to make no excuses and shortcuts. I want to be able to say that I put 100% effort into every lift, and then I will be proud of myself. By: Marcus Nieves This project for me was to stay in shape while in isolation during this pandemic. The goal is to work out 3 times a week so I can get stronger and faster after this whole thing whines down. I chose this because I mainly didn't want 2 months of lifting and 4 months of cardio to go to waste from me doing nothing at home. My experience so far has been rough. I started off good with working out twice in the first week, but then I started to procrastinate and push back the third workout. The start of this week I did the same exact thing by not working out on Monday instead doing it a day later. I have learned that I need to work on my mind set because I have not had a drive to workout. I have been very unmotivated and haven’t been able to get that motivation back. Also, that feeling after a workout feels the best for me because I feel accomplished and after a workout my stress just goes away for the rest of the day. For example, after being stressed out about school work from distance learning, I did agility drills on a agility ladder and ran sprints. After, I did this I felt relaxed and accomplished. My goal for next week is to get that motivation back and be more consistent on my workouts. Another big goal is to stop procrastinating because if I don’t then my other goals will be harder to accomplish. I need to be on the same page as my mind and be positive so I slowly stop procrastinating and slowly build my motivation and confidence.  by: Serf Piedrasanta
For my Journalism long term project, I decided to learn a coding language. I decided this because of how important computers are to the world, and learning a coding language could prove helpful in real life. The coding language I decided on is HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) which is what websites are made from. I have been using a few different websites to learn, as well as various different youtube videos to learn more intricate applications. So far, I only know how to create a basic test webpage, with headings, paragraphs and links. This took a lot to learn, because of the advanced grammar based mistakes you can make. A lot of my problems came in how some things would not show up due to a punctuation problem or how applying something to a paragraph would overrule another. I am currently learning how to style my page, which includes such things as colors, fonts, sizes and emphasis. I already know how to write these, but the problem comes in what is known as applying these to the meta of the page. I hope that by the end of the project, I can fully create a webpage on my own, and use different types of elements besides just text. By Hailey Hodsen
Last week, I got the task of doing something over the next month that would better myself in some way. At first I had no idea what to do, and was honestly not so excited about having to incorporate something new into my daily routine. Would I try to learn a new language? Take an online class? Start running everyday? I'm generally a pretty indecisive person, and I wanted to make sure I picked something that I would actually do and not be miserable doing. I eventually chose to do a 20-30 minute workout everyday. I don’t play sports, and have never really gotten into exercising regularly because of a lack of motivation, but I’ve always wanted to. This project is turning out to be a good motivator. Three days ago, I started doing my 20 minute workout. I’m choosing to do them in the morning after I do a little homework but before I go to work at around the same time everyday to make sure I don’t skip a day. On the first day, I went into YouTube and searched for a 20 minute full body workout. I clicked on the first one I saw that looked decent and started. At first It was easy, but as I continued it got harder and harder to keep up. I quickly became out of breath and started sweating, and when the 20 minutes were finally up I felt relieved but also accomplished. I had started my journey towards becoming a healthier and more fit person. The second and third days were similar to the first. I’m picking a different youtube video to follow along with each day so it’s different every time and I don’t get bored. I plan to continue this everyday until the project ends. UPDATE: All performances of the WHS production have been cancelled and are hoping to reschedule. Stay tuned for more information.
by: Serf Piedrasanta With the recent outbreak of COVID-19 or the CoronaVirus, a lot of precautions are being taken. A state of emergency has been announced in Connecticut by governor Ned Lamont, and panic is large as of right now. The CIAC (Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference) has cancelled all winter sports that have currently been going on, and most activities are cancelled as well. However, Wethersfield High School’s 2020 production of “The Addams Family” is still running. The superintendent has made precautions, and only 100 people are allowed to attend each show to lower the risk of infection. This impacts the show in many different ways, however. While the show is still on, it has been decided that three extra shows are available to the public. There is a Thursday dress rehearsal available for parents of those in the cast, with a limit of 2 people per student. There is also a Saturday matinee added in the afternoon at 1:00pm, as well as a Monday evening show being planned. Ticket sales are currently closed, as online ticket sales reached over 500 people before the 100 person cap was announced. It is very unlikely that any tickets will open up, but there will be door sales if the 100 person maximum is not met for a show. This is affecting every single cast member and has added an extra layer of stress, but we will update as we have more information as it becomes available.  Students are graduating on June 12, but are they ready for adult life? By: Mya Pellegrino
Most upperclassmen who are soon going to be graduating from WHS are ready for college, but are they really ready to take on the responsibilities of being an adult? Most seniors graduating in the class of 2020 are worried about the major struggle of adjusting to the differences between high school and college. We can no longer rely on our parents to do things for us while we are in college, we are on our own. Graduated student from the class 2019 Kylie Judson, who attends the University of Tampa was lucky enough to share with her how she adjusted in college, being so far from home. She said, “College was definitely harder for me to adjust to, especially being far away, it was a whole new scene for me. Meeting new people was hard for me because I've been surrounded by the same people my whole life.” Having to meet new people all over again is also something that the class of 2020 is stressed about, as we are approaching the last few months of high school. Senior J’von Cooper is mainly stressed about starting over all over again. Cooper says, “I’m already antisocial as it is, so it makes it really hard for me to make friends because I don’t actively go out and make them. Since I already came in from another school and had to make new friends, I have to go to college and do it all over again and repeat the same process for the third time.” Honestly, I’m stressed about adjusting to being by myself and having to figure out how to survive without my parents constant help. I need to learn basic life skills like doing my own laundry or cooking my own meal before I head off by myself. College seems scary as some of us seniors are starting to think about future plans and building new lives for oursleves, but, with alittle adjustment, another 4 years will fly by!  By J’Von Cooper
What is art? That’s a loaded question, with many ways to answer it. Yet, considering the sizable amount of students participating in the arts here at Wethersfield High Schools, it begs the question. With art existing in so many forms, is there any way to define it? Well, according to the people participating in those programs, there are just as many answers as there are people being questioned. However, there is at least one constant within all of them: Emotion. As Andrea Haas, one of three art teachers at WHS put it, “Art is whatever you want it to be.” She continues to specify, “I see art as a means to send a message. Make an emotional change in the person viewing it.” That’s how many of her students view art. As Senior Brianna Boucher said, “Art is meant to mean something”, or in other words, elicit enough emotion to be meaningful. This theme of eliciting a reaction echoes through many of the people interviewed, including an unexpecting source. Jeffery Roets, the current play director and English teacher, had a similar response to the aforementioned people interviewed, and a little more. “Arts not only reflects our emotions, but makes us question them.” he said. “It makes us feel something.” Well, if so many people feel so many different ways about art, what is concrete? Well, as seen by the people interviewed, art means something. What that something is may be different depending on whomever you ask, but it means something to somebody, with everyone saying something.  By: Alexis Almada and Andre Jorge “Come to paint night and flex your painting muscles” -John Martin Wethersfield High School’s National Art Honor Society (NAHS) will be hosting its fourth paint night, “Leap Into Spring” on Thursday, February 27th. Paint night will take place in the art rooms located near the pool entrance. No painting experience is required! The NAHS has been selling tickets ($7 ea.) since February 10th, and will continue selling at the door. The event starts promptly at 6pm and ends around 8pm. To start off the night, guests will have the opportunity to sit in one of the two art rooms and learn to paint a spring themed canvas, instructed by two of the NAHS members. Instructing this year’s spring paint night will be WHS seniors Alexis Almada (room 22) and Kiara Lazu (room 20). Both instructors will be teaching how to paint the same image. This will be their second time instructing paint night! The schedule for the night is as follows, painting is taught from 6pm-7pm and then a quick intermission for pizza and other refreshments will be served from 7pm-7:30pm. After that, everyone will return to painting and deserts will be handed out. Although Alexis and Kiara will be teaching everyone how to make a spring painting, guests are not required to follow along. If you would like, you can paint whatever you want. All supplies will be provided. In each room, painting jockeys will be replacing paint waters, paper towels, and paint as needed. Everyone is welcome to join us for paint night! It’s a really fun event and everyone is encouraged to come. Please come out and help support the NAHS.  by: Serf Piedrasanta
Wethersfield High School’s very own drama club has been rehearsing for their spring production of The Addams Family. Students in the musical started their rehearsals in January, and they continue weekly until March, where they perform for three days. What is The Addams Family? It is a musical following the iconic clan of misfits as they have to handle change. The plot surrounds the daughter of Gomez and Morticia Addams, Wednesday Addams, as she handles her new relationship with a “normal” person. What is a typical week like for these students? We asked two students who have lead roles in the musical, Zane Tinker and Hailey Baranowski, about what they go through each week. Hailey Baranowski, class of 2020, was asked about what her role of Wednesday Addams and her contributions to the overall story of the show. “Wednesday is this 17 year old girl and she has this fiance her parents never met and a lot of the story is based around the conflict of Wednesday keeping her marriage a secret from her mother.” Uncle Fester acts as a narrator of sorts, as he is the only character that speaks directly to the audience and summarizes small parts of the show. We asked Zane Tinker, class of 2020, about what Fester does for the show. He said, “Uncle Fester is the weird uncle who simultaneously acts as the narrator of sorts. He talks to the audience and keeps them updated on what’s going on.” “I spend about 20 hours a week, especially at the beginning when you’re just learning all the songs and dances” Baranowski said about how much time a week they spend practicing. All this time spent in school rehearsing takes a toll on their lives outside of school, and when we asked Zane, he said, “Oh it’s rough, especially when I have another job. I have zero free time,” showing how busy these performers are each and every week. “I really only can spend time with other people who are in the musical.” Baranowski said when asked how exactly this huge time commitment affects her life. This being said, the leads all interact frequently, with members of one group or family being on stage with each other a lot more. But sometimes, outside relationships can make some scenes a bit awkward for the performers. “Getting comfortable on the stage with everyone while saying your lines is very important.” Hailey said when asked about chemistry on stage, but it isn’t as bad as it sounds. “It’s like hydrogen and oxygen. It depends on the people though, and those who tend to stay more focused bounce off each other a lot better than those who don’t,” Zane said when questioned on who on stage bounces off one another well. This shows that when these students put in the effort and focus, they perform a lot better, and get more done. WHS’ musical productions are not your typical high school production. Not only do they try to stick to Broadway levels of formality with complicated harmonies and more singing parts then typical, there are also things that make these productions important to the performers. There are numerous unique traditions special to the high school that make these productions special, and it shows the bond that these students have with one another. “Before we go on stage and before performance,s we all sing songs in a circle and everyone cries on the last day.” Baranowski said when asked about what traditions WHS has that aren’t seen anywhere else. The Addams Family is a drastically different show than last year's production of Mary Poppins. When asked about how this show is going to stand out, Zane said “I think the songs and the show is a lot funnier than Mary Poppins, so it’s going to be a fun show to watch.” The Addams Family is a lot more contemporary than last year’s production, and people who want a more comedic and brash show should definitely be sure to get tickets for a showing.  By: Natalia Travaglini & Eliza-mely Martinez
Studying can be a very hard thing to do for students. There are so many different techniques, tips, and methods to studying. Students are told they need to study for a test, but they are never really taught how to actually study. We were given different techniques, but most of the time they dont really work for us. Depending on the type of learner, for example being a visual, auditory or kinesthetic learner, some studying methods will work amazing and others will not work at all. We interviewed two seniors at Wethersfield and asked them about their studying habits and any tips they have for others. When talking to Haley Dellafera, a senior at Wethersfield High School, about her studying habits, we asked how she studies and it varies depending on the topic she is studying for. For math, she studies by doing problems but for English, she studies by using Sparknotes and Quizlet. Many students struggle with studying, Haley Dellafera struggles with finding the motivation to study. During our interview she said, “Actually finding the motivation to get up and studying for my test has always been a problem for me.” This problem has taken a toll on her grades at certain times in her high school career. Haley mentioned it would be a lot easier to study if she enjoyed the topic, so she tries to find interesting subjects within the topic she is studying to make the process just a bit easier. Since she studies differently for each topic, we wondered if she would keep the same studying habits from high school into college. Dellafera said she definitely wouldn't keep her habits. Most of the time she just tries to get by without reading the book or notes but in the end she can get by without it. In college, she thinks it's going to be a lot different and she has to read, learn, and retain the subject. We interviewed another student from Rocky Hill High School when we asked Ianna Pagan if she believed her studying habits were good she said yes. Ianna explained that she had a good idea as to how she should study. She usually starts by making sure if she is comfortable she has snacks to eat while she is studying. Then she starts to make a study guide that will make it easier for her to know what to study. In this study guide she writes example questions, tips to help her remember, and the hardest topic she struggles with. Ianna Pagan said “I think I will use my studying habits in college because it has never done me wrong, everytime I use this method I get a pretty decent grade” We made sure to get more than one perspective about studying habits in high school and interviewed senior, Kassandra Vazquez as well. Kassandra finds studying using youtube video explanations is the best way for her. A tip she has for other students who are struggling to find good studying techniques is studying for 30-45 minutes and then taking a break to avoid getting overwhelmed. Although finding the perfect studying technique can be difficult, we hope that the tips and experiences shared by two of our high school students could possibly make the task easier.  By:Ellie Kieselback
Stress has got to be one of the worst things to go through and we all know that. This will affect your feelings, emotions and actions. Stress can cause health problems including high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes, which can be a very scary situation. Stress is tiring for the mind and body. It's not unusual to give up on everything when you are stressed and basically anything can cause someone to stress. Ways people can help or prevent being stressed are to get good sleep and rest, manage your time, try yoga, or a stress diary and take deep breaths. Even trying physical activity is a popular thing to help. English teacher Mrs. Ryba said the thing that stresses her out the most is that she has “set high expectations for myself and sometimes my students.” “I believe kids should learn to THINK and work hard and not just get straight As for showing up. I think sometimes people take the easy way out and I'm not good at that . However I do lighten up at times.” Ryba also was saying “training” helps to destress her. “I love to work out, but balancing and finding time to do so stresses me out. The gym is too crowded and people don't respect social space as they used to do so this stresses me out,” she said. The symptoms of stress could be physical pain, poor judgement, feeling overwhelmed, loneliness, isolation, and anxiety. We all need to learn how to cope with stress because the symptoms are harsh. This is all compared back to the stress impact level on everyday life. This is showing not everyone has the same stress but everyone is dealing with it. Everyone is stressed. We are all just dealing with it in our everyday life. We all handle stress diffrenlty than others. However, if we don’t deal with stress in our teens, then it will continue to follow us. We need to learn how to cope and deal with stressful situations now so we can be more successful in the future. Stress will never be fun but there will alway be some things to help the stress. Like I had said before, more sleep,anxiety medication,hot tubs, anything on the relaxing side to help the stress. The world would be a better place without stress, that’s why we all love weekends! By: Kaitlynn Bertucio and Kevin Torres Being students at Wethersfield High School, we have a lot of important news and events to worry about. Especially since we’re seniors, college deadlines don’t make matters any better. Every Wednesday and Friday in second block, we watch Blue Eagle News, a student and teacher run news program informing students and teachers about important information and events that are coming up. Blue Eagle News started in 2016 by Ms. Coco, engineering, video, and technology teacher here at WHS. While many students are involved in the whole process; which includes filming, scripting, editing, uploading, and being on camera, most students don’t know the process behind creating a segment, and they have a lot of questions. A big question is, how does these segments operate? Ms. Coco said, “It is run by a group of kids who had to go through a whole interview process. We meet two to three times a week and I put in a few hours a week with these students.” When we asked Ms.Coco how close she thinks Blue Eagle News is to an actual news corporation, she had this to say, “[The processes are] very introductory, I would like to see it better.” Her ultimate goal is to make Blue Eagle News an even more integral part of school culture. She works hard to make Blue Eagle News better. From adding new equipment and graphics, to adding more students on the team, and even decorating the studio and personalizing different segments. This includes painting one of the studio walls for the sports segment, done by the students. We hope that this gave more insight on how Blue Eagle News runs, and hopefully it will make you better appreciate the effort they put in to produce a news segment twice a week.  by: Class President Isaac Santos and Class of 2020 Seniors Bella Samse and Jimmy Luiz
It has always been a tradition for the senior class to get shirts that represent them. This year, the Class of 2020 is currently stumped and looking for a new design. Every senior has been saying they do not care what the shirt looks like, but then get mad at the design presented at the cap and gown ceremony. Now we are currently on the hunt for a new shirt design. We took the authority to interview seniors, Emily Karwic, Dzenita Korkutovic, and Teacher of the Year, John Martin. They shared their thoughts on our senior shirts and this is what they had to say for it. When asked about the original shirt design senior Dzenita said, “Personally, it was okay. I would wear it, I thought it looked cool. It was something different, it was unique.” However Mr. Martin said “I thought that the original senior shirt was a little outdated, I talked with Class President Isaac Santos and I thought about how Marvel’s Endgame came out almost 18 month before you graduated.” However, he has high hopes for the new upcoming designs. A shirt can have many different designs and to satisfy an entire senior class with one design can be quite the task. Senior Emily Karwic said, “I wish it had more school color and maybe add the Eagle or 2020, but make it something unique.” Mr. Martin had a different approach and said, “I like the fact that Santos gave students the choice to make and upload designs will make it the best shirt at the end, I trust in this year's senior class.” At the end of the day, when you think of a senior shirt, what comes to mind are themes that unify the entire class such as the school mascot, the year of graduation for that senior class, and the school’s colors. Seniors after been notified that they have until this Friday, Feb. 14 to submit new designs for the chance to be pick for the senior shirt for the entire class. Will you submit a design? Do you care what they final product will be?  By: Gabby Amoddio
Accounting is a full-year course offered at Wethersfield High School that is available to sophomores, juniors, and seniors and is taught by Joanna Griswold, who has taught multiple business classes over her years working at WHS. In this course, students learn a variety of skills that are used by accountants. They focus on the bookwork for a service business in the first semester and switch to a merchandising business in the second semester. If you plan on becoming an accountant when you’re older, this is a great opportunity for you. You get to experience the ins and outs of accounting without the stress of being in the actual work environment. It’s helpful to learn, in depth, the process of accounting and the basic terms that go along with it. Even if you’re unsure about your future plans, taking Accounting can help you get a feel for what the career is like. After taking the class, you can decide if accounting, or any other career related to business and finance, is a good fit for you. Another benefit of the class is that it is an official Capital Community College course. This means that passing the class can actually give you a college credit. All you have to do is fill out an enrollment form before a certain date and get above a C average. The fact that it’s a college course can make the class difficult at times but It's good to get a feel for what college will feel like. However, it is not a class that you can go into unprepared, as it asks a lot of students. “Accounting is the type of class where you have to study 4 days before just to get a B,” says Kyle Martinez, a senior at Wethersfield High School. Martinez is currently enrolled in the class and just started the second semester. Accounting is known as the language of business because it is how managers communicate the financial information of a business to people who will use it like shareholders and creditors. It is important to understand accounting first so you know how to properly run and improve your business. Think Accounting may be for you? Make sure to sign up for it next year!  By: Dzenita Korkutovic
Myths and Legends is a semester course that is part of the English department. To learn more about this exciting class, I interviewed Mrs. McKenna, teacher for Myths and Legends and English department liaison. Here is a few questions I’ve asked her and her responses: According to Mrs. McKenna, the class is “a semester long class that seniors take for half a credit and goes towards the English requirement for graduation. We study mostly Myths and Legends. We look at Myths from all over the world and look at the meanings behind them. We don’t look at just Greek mythology or Roman mythology, which a lot of people are aware of. We look at the deeper meaning of myths in general. As for Legends, we do a lot of real life legends meaning we look at how real life people become legends or become their own story.” I asked if she would recommend kids to take the course and why. She said she would course recommend kids to take it. She mentioned they do lots of different things, students have a lot of choices within it. Even if you aren't a big fan of mythology, everyone can find something interesting in the class. I wondered what kinds of activities or projects she did with the class. She named a few things that they do. She said they watch videos or read short selections of myths, legends, fairy tales and other things. All of this culminates in a big essay that they end up doing in real-life legends, or kids can pick someone within the topic to research. When asked what students should know, McKenna said that she would want kids to know that it's not just about one culture or group of people, it's about many different ones. Also, you would look at American cultures because not many people know about them. As you can see, the course Myths and Legends is an interesting class to take. From researching one culture to watching movies on a whole different culture, all students get to experience multiple cultures within the class. Personally, I’ve been in the class for only a few weeks now and I love it! If you have already taken the course, comment down on what you thought of the class!  By: Emily Karwic
Wethersfield Studies is a half-year English class where students learn about the history of their town. This class, taught by Ms. Krawczyk, discusses the town’s geological formation, Native American history, Puritans, witch hunts, and more. Ms. Krawczyk highlights that the course focuses on the students’ impact on the town, not just the past history. She outlines in her course information that, “Your past and current experiences in this town are contributing to the future history of Wethersfield”. A class like this allows students to see further into the history of the town they’re a part of. Aside from learning about the town, the students complete projects and activities related to its history. Students also make posters about their own history in the town so that Ms. Krawczyk and their classmates can learn more about each other. Throughout the semester students perform one-act plays, write a letter to the editor regarding an article in Wethersfield Life, and look at past yearbooks to see how much the school has changed. Another thing students do to expand their knowledge about the towns past is attend either a Board of Education meeting or a Town Council meeting. In these activities, students will, “Compare and contrast what we learn about Wethersfield’s past, with our towns current issues of interest and concern.” In asking more about the class, I learned that one of the most interesting things for Ms. Krawczyk is learning about her students and she enjoys them learning about how much the town has changed over the years. This class poses a unique opportunity for the students to learn more about the town they live in. It’s available for seniors to take every semester.  by: Jillian Gray
With graduation right around the corner, seniors are starting to make one of the toughest decisions of their high school career. Seniors are getting their acceptance letters, and now it’s time to pick where they will spend their next couple of years. There are many factors that students are looking at while they decide which college they want to go to, from looking at how nice the campus is to how much money it costs per year. With these decisions so close, I decided to interview a few of the seniors here at Wethersfield High school, to see how they are determining what college they want to go to. Senior Mya Pellegrino is thinking of her living situation, saying, “I think the campus matters and how the dorms are. I don’t like using public bathrooms, and I also need an AC. That's why I chose my college”. Although many people may choose their college based on the dorms, I got the chance to talk to Jacob Rivera. He expressed, “When I was going through the process, my main idea was to pick the college that was less money-wise. Since I would be in school for such a large amount of time, I knew the money would accumulate”. When it comes to college, money is indeed a big aspect of choosing where to go in my eyes. With saying that Ellie Kieselback described how money and time was a big factor for her. Ellie said “I don’t want to spend years in a college, I wanted cosmetology school because it’s only one year.” People may think of the cost, budgeting, and all the complicated aspects. When interviewing Kyle Edman he simply said, “I look at how nice the campus is.” Graduation is coming up fast, and decisions are going to have to be made. There are many aspects that people think about while choosing where they want to spend the next couple years of their lives. At the end of the day, you will make your decision based on how money, time, the campus, or even if you want to go to college at all. Comment below if you have chosen your college already, and what made you choose it?  By: Tyler Wolf, WHS Eagles mascot People ask me all the time, is it hot in that suit? Listen really carefully to the answer I am about to give to you, the answer is YES, all mascots get hot. No matter how many times people ask, the answer is always YES! Thank goodness I got that straightened out! Let me first introduce myself, my name is Tyler Wolf and for the past three years, I have been very privileged to dress up in an eagle suit, serving as the mascot at basketball and football games. Before me, there was a person that did the mascot for one day after realizing they do not want to sweat profusely or hated the smell, either way! Believe it or not, I used to hate mascots, but now I am proud to be one! After going to my first hockey game, meeting mascots Sonar and Pucky, I came to the realization that I love mascots! I wanted to be a mascot from that point on because you can make people happy, nobody knows who you are, you can be yourself, and have a barrier by which to hide behind. But as I got to the fourth grade after meeting mascots for the first time I was hooked! I was Hanmer School’s mascot Hootie the Owl. I did that up until sixth grade.  At the end of sophomore year I finally felt well adjusted to the school. I asked Mr. Maltese and got the opportunity! They needed a regular person to do all the varsity boys football and basketball games. I decided I wanted to not only give it my own touch-ups to the suit itself, develop a personality for the character that was full of energy and that appealed to people young and old. It was the best experience I ever had at Wethersfield High School.
It was really fun to see the student section pumped up to see the eagle at the games, and when the rare time he was not people were disappointed. I feed off of the crowd's energy. That gave me an adrenaline rush to keep going and have the energy to love what I do best. It feels good to know that I’ve made an impression on the school. I hope the next person to take over will do as good, if not better than me. I will truly miss this AMAZING OPPORTUNITY! It has had an impact on my life in terms of getting out of my shell , it helped me in more ways than I ever imagined it would! The reason why I became a mascot is because you can not only bring joy to others, but also the fact that you can express yourself behind a mask. Generally you do not know who is inside the suit, therefore making it more fun for people to guess or enjoy the magic a mascot brings. Thank You to Mr. Maltese for believing in me, as well as giving me the chance to create a character, that is now a part of who I am in real life. The mascot experience has taught me to not be afraid to be yourself, go out there and have fun no matter what others think. I truly thank you for this experience I will never forget.  By: Audrey Mainville and Kadin Joyce In a recent WHS advisory, students were informed of the school’s Skills21 #EaglesBreakBoundaries movement. However, many classes were left with little understanding of what each grade is supposed to do to exemplify it. In response, here is what #EaglesBreakBoundaries is, and what each student can do to be a part of it. #EaglesBreakBoundaries is a media campaign that has been created by students in the Skills21 group here at WHS to push people out of their comfort zone. Every year, the group releases a theme that students have to incorporate into their project. This year's theme is Breaking Boundaries. “Breaking Boundaries” is designed to motivate WHS students to gain a sense of independence, as well as responsibility. Ms. Coco, advisor of this campaign states, “Our group uses this program [Skills21], along with BlueEagle News, to reach our audience and try to create community by working towards a common goal.” With that, here is what each class can do to participate in this campaign: Freshman and Sophomores: The goal for the Freshmen and Sophomores is to reach out to the community. Volunteering and participating in town events are just some ways these underclassmen can exemplify this. The Skills21group wants them to reach out of their comfort zone, and make connections. Juniors: The goal for juniors is to learn how to be financially responsible. Getting a debit card or learning how to budget money are examples of this. The Skills21 group wants juniors to focus on becoming more financially independent, and not always rely on guardians for money. Seniors: As seniors approach adulthood, their goal is to take steps towards their future. This can include, applying and committing to a college, joining the military, setting up their own appointments, looking at places where they may be interested in living. All of this they believe shows independence and responsibility. Students and people in the community are encouraged to take photos of themselves carrying out these activities! Show how you broke boundaries! Submit photos to blueeagles@wethersfield.me OR post pictures to social media with the hashtag #Eaglesbreakboundaries as well as a tag of your advisory teacher’s name and the year of your graduation. For more information contact Ms. Coco at scoco@wethersfield.me or BlueEagle News at blueeagles@wethersfield.me  By: Andre Jorge and Alexis Almada
The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards were on Sunday, January 26 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The Grammys recognizes the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the year. Sunday night’s show featured several moments of spotlight to Tyler The Creator, Lizzo, Billie Eilish, and Rosalía, some of today’s youngest pop innovators. Lizzo received the most nominations with eight Grammy nominations, followed by Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X. When you consider all the Grammy winners of 2020, do you think that their wins will lead to more people listening to their music? Do you think the Grammys are good at representing today’s best music? We were on the hunt to find out if the Grammys are in fact an accurate example of today's music. We interviewed Mr. Mearman, a teacher at Wethersfield High School, and Antonella DiCenso, a mother of a sophomore athlete, to find out their opinions. “Absolutely not, because what we listen to on the radio is going to be what people want to hear because that's what’s being requested. Meanwhile, on the Grammys, the people who are winning, I don't even know half the people. I don't recognize some of the songs,” said DiCenso. “Well, I have to say no, the Grammys don’t accurately represent today’s best music because it’s very narrow,” said Mearman. The Grammys focuses on the top 40 hits, where a Grammy Award is presented by The Recording Academy to recognize achievements in the music industry. We also asked about how the Grammys could be improved to better represent today’s music. “They should include other types of music, you know not just pop...and they may give awards out to other genres but they don’t ever air it. Air more on TV than just the glitter stars that are obnoxious,” said Mearman. While interviewing, we narrowed down the Grammy award ceremony to some specific topics like Billie Eilish winning five awards. Billie Eilish, an 18 year old singer-songwriter, earned six Grammy nominations and five wins including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. She became the first artist to win the major four categories since Christopher Cross in 1981. With all of Eilish’s wins at the Grammys, does this mean that she’s a good representation of today’s best music? “I don’t think she’s that good. Gee, well I could be really snotty and say she’s a good representation of today’s music, because today’s music is not that good,” said Mearman. “It depends on what they are being nominated for and what they are winning for. Sometimes I feel like some artists are the ‘Flavor of the day,’ and other times this artist is outdoing everybody else and should be winning and getting it all,” said DiCenso. What do you think? Were any of your favorite artists nominated? |
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