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Senior Boat Cruise Returns; Senior Board’s First Steps for Fun Senior Year

October 7, 2024

Brandon Nguyen
EXECUTIVE EDITOR

The event was held on September 29 from 4:00 to 7:00 pm, departing from 60 Rowes Wharf in Boston. Activities included a picnic dinner, a DJ, dancing, and views of the sunset. The decision to renew the event was made by the Senior Board advisors, health teacher Holly Breen, and math teacher Scott Armstrong.

Previously a longstanding tradition for seniors at AHS, the boat cruise was last held in 2019 before being canceled due to the pandemic. “When I was the Senior Board Advisor in prior years, we always had the boat cruise, which was always a phenomenal event,” said Breen. Another reason for bringing the boat cruise back was in order to spread senior events throughout the school year. “We don’t want to just have senior activities at the end of the year,” said Breen, “we want to get seniors really starting to hang out together and to be a group and community at the beginning [of the year].”

According to senior Shreya Desai, a member of the Senior Board, a large school issue the Senior Board is focusing on tackling is the lack of school spirit. “We all felt like we had no fun senior events until the end of the year with Senior Week. And with the beginning of the year so stressful for seniors with [college applications], we wanted to give seniors a little more fun.”

320 tickets were sold, according to Breen, out of 410 seniors at AHS. “A big part of that success has been the students on the Senior Board,” said Armstrong. “Their biggest part was getting the word out and getting people to come, which they clearly have been successful at.” Senior Aidan Loucks, another member of the Senior Board, stated, “Our goal is to make this a super fun year for everyone, and get as many people attending and engaging in community events like this.”

STAFF PHOTO / Brandon Nguyen
Seniors look out at the Tobin Bridge in Boston Harbor from the cruise

The boat cruise isn’t the only event the Senior Board has planned this year. “We have Homecoming on October 19, and the charity football game will be the Monday before Thanksgiving,” said Breen. “We’ll also do the Halloween Costume Contest, and we want to do another event in February or March that’s open to all seniors.”

Loucks and Desai both agreed that their main goal with upcoming events is to increase the turnout. “Attendance wasn’t quite as we wanted [last year] for Homecoming while I was on Junior Board, but this year we’re hoping to turn that around,” said Loucks. “We’re going to work with the Junior Board this year,” said Desai, “to try and bring some new ideas to Homecoming and other future events.”

Overall, the Senior board is working towards brightening up the school and creating a closer community for AHS seniors. “I hope more students just get involved and participate in what we’re planning,” said Armstrong. “I think it’s really going to enhance the culture, but more importantly, it’s going to be fun for everyone.”

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AHS Introduces New H-Block Numbering

October 7, 2024

Isabella Yan
ARTS EDITOR

In the winter of 2023, the H-Block Planning Team surveyed students and faculty to gather opinions regarding the H-Block schedule and offerings. Following the feedback received from the survey, H-Blocks have been renumbered, aligning with the days on the 8-day rotation. The previous H-Blocks followed a consecutive order where H2 was the second H-Block in the schedule, H3 was the third H-Block in the schedule, and so forth. After the change, H2 became H3 because it occurs on Day 3, and H3 became H4 because it occurs on Day 4. Altogether, H-Blocks will now consist of H3, H4, H6, and H8 rather than the previous H2 through 5.

The H-Block Planning Team—currently in its third year running—is responsible for overseeing these changes. The team includes faculty members across various departments at AHS who meet monthly to discuss and plan the advisory curriculum and H-Block offerings. Reflecting on the student and faculty feedback received from the survey, Assistant Principal Alicia Linsey, the administrative facilitator of the H-Block Planning Team, shared that the previous schedule was confusing and needed a change.

STAFF PHOTO / Isabella Yan
Student chooses H Blocks.

In the previous school year, the H-Block Planning Team began implementing the change of renaming H1 to Advisory. “It was important to clarify… [that] H1 has a distinct purpose [more so] than other H-Blocks,” according to Linsey.

The change of renumbering the H-Blocks has posed a challenge for students adapted to the old H-Block schedule. “I think it’s more confusing now,” said senior Sharayu Josh. She points out a communication hurdle, “You have to clarify whether you mean H4 meaning Day 4 or H4 meaning the fourth H-Block.”

However, students like junior Pranav Yadla have appreciate the new change, finding that the previous schedule was difficult to follow. “It’s more simple than last year,” he said. With the new schedule, Yadla offers a perspective that the new change has created clarity in navigating the schedule. “It’s way easier to know H4 is on Day 4 and not on Day 6,” he said. “You also know what day is coming up. So, it’s not just using the H-Block name just for H-Block, but also to find out what schedule that day is.”

While this change may take some time to get adjusted to as people settle in for the new school year, Josh acknowledged, “People will get used to it. It’s not really impactful on anything other than H blocks.”

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First Year Mentor Program Aims to Cultivate Community

October 7, 2024

By Samantha Sun
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR

Health teacher Holly Breen and Assistant Principal Alicia Linsey devised the program as a way to smooth the transition into the AHS community. Each advisory has two or three mentors who visit once every six to eight weeks to help out ninth grade students throughout their entire freshmen year. The mentors include sophomores, juniors, and seniors. The pairs are in different grades to resolve conflict with any grade specific activities done in their advisories, such as class meetings.

”It is a school priority to continue to cultivate a community that fosters a culture of belonging and collaboration,” Linsey said. Breen added that she feels responsible to support relationships between students. “I want [freshmen] to feel that this is home for them and… welcomed,” she explained.

Not every freshman has siblings or friends who already attend AHS, Linsey noted. These are the kids the program intends to reach, in order to provide an upperclassmen support system to incoming students. Mentors and freshmen first meet during freshmen orientation so that they are familiar with each other throughout the entire school year.

COURTESY PHOTO / Alicia Linsey
Alan Hibino and Allison Peters’ freshmen advisory class poses for a photo.

“I think [it gives] perspective for some of the mentors,” said Linsey. “You forget what it’s like to be a ninth grader [and how] it’s really big when you get to high school.”

“I really like being a role model for others,” Lana Huynh, a junior and mentor, said. “The freshmen were very unsure and scared of what to do next, so [mentoring is] like being there as their older sibling in the school and [helping] them with things I’ve already experienced.”

Junior Daphne Hatzigiannis has also enjoyed her experience being a mentor. “It’s a relatively simple job,” she said. “So far, the most memorable part has been the initial tour we gave our group, [and] it honestly got me pretty excited for school to start.”

“When I was a freshman I thought that upperclassmen were helpful when figuring things out,” Huynh said. “It made my transition a lot easier.”

The leadership training, called Student Empowered Leadership (SEL), was designed by a group called Ignite Nation and funded by the Andover Coalition for Education. Ignite Nation collaborates with schools to help students feel connected and inspire students to lead and mentor their peers. There was a one day training session in January 2024 and a two day training session in June 2024, after the school year ended, to help prepare mentors for the following year.

The mentors learned how to facilitate conversations, how to be a great leader, how to act with integrity, and how to help with the transition process, Breen said. They also did trust-building exercises, skits, and fun games, such as a rock paper scissors tournament.

“It’s important [to] have this be a community to people, and the first step in that is building relationships,” said Breen. The First Year Mentor Program has been getting a lot of positive feedback from freshmen, mentors, and advisors. ”[The program] has really helped build connections across the AHS community,” Linsey concluded.

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AHS Team to Conduct Particle Physics Experiment at DESY

October 7, 2024

By Tommy Kruecker-Green
Opinions Editor

It all began when senior Richard Chen, discovered the competition at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. He attempted to recruit classmates but initially found little interest. Richard then approached Daniel Donovan, a physics teacher and the Physics Club advisor, and later, the team of eight’s mentor. Donovan’s initial response was skeptical. “He was like, this is an absolutely crazy idea, and it’s never going to happen,” joked senior Jaiden Li.

But the team – Theo Buckridge, Richard Chen, Samyak Jain, Jaiden Li, Daniel Lin, Zach Medjamia, Hari Palaniyappan, Robert Zhu – known as the SPEEDers (Smith-Purcell Effect Emission Determination) persevered. They began working on their proposal at the start of the following school year, brainstorming a number of ideas before settling on Smith-Purcell radiation. This lesser-known phenomenon, first discovered in the 1950s by Smith and Purcell, occurs when a beam of electrons passes over a metal grating, causing the emission of light.

The team’s proposal focuses on the unique properties of Smith-Purcell radiation. “It’s a non-intrusive method of diagnosing a beamline,” explained Li. A beamline is a line in a particle accelerator along which particles travel, and “diagnosing” means measuring its properties. “Essentially, that means that it’s very safe to conduct, and there’s also potential applications in healthcare with regards to X-rays.”

STAFF PHOTO / Tommy Kruecker-Green
Winners of “Beamline for Schools” competition, along with AHS physics teachers Mr. Donovan, Ms. Givens, and Principal D’Andrea and Superintendent Dr. Parvey

The non-intrusive nature of Smith-Purcell radiation in measuring an electron beam is a key advantage. “When you run the electron [beam], you don’t actually run the electrons through the grating; you run it over [the grating], and so the beam continues on,” Zhu clarified. This means scientists can measure the beam’s properties without disrupting it, keeping the beam intact for other uses like medical treatments. To develop their proposal, the team gained access to a library of physics papers through the school librarian, John Bérubé. They also used Onshape, a cloud-based CAD (computer-aided design) software, to create 3D models of their experimental setup. Li got involved just a week before the submission deadline to create this computer simulation.

Remarkably, the team completed their final proposal in just one week. “It was a very last-minute thing,” admitted Zhu.

At DESY, the team, accompanied by Donovan, and physics teacher, Cynthia Givens, had plans to run an electron beam over their designed grating and observe the resulting Smith-Purcell radiation. “We’re pretty much just gonna be running the beam and trying to observe the Smith-Purcell radiation,” said Zhu before they left for Germany. “And we’re gonna be tweaking things and trying to see if it matches our predictions for how much we’ll see, what we’ll see, what frequency, and so on.”

The students have ambitious goals after observing the radiation. They hope to code a simulation for GEANT4, a toolkit used by CERN for simulating particle interactions. “The thing with the Smith-Purcell effect is that there isn’t a module for it in GEANT4,” said junior Buckridge. “So we would be the first to code that.”

The team sees this once-in-a-lifetime trip as an opportunity to experience the international scientific community firsthand. “It’s just really great to have experience working with these tools that actual scientists use in the actual field,” said Zhu. “We definitely want to learn more about what the scientific community is like outside of just Andover or outside of just the U.S,” Li added.

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AP Econ Debuts at AHS

October 7, 2024

By Carissa Dessin
EXECUTIVE EDITOR

This course, taught by Digital Learning and Business teacher Ashley Kinsman, marks a significant shift from the school’s previous elective business courses.

Kinsman, who has previously taught electives such as Intro to Business Finance and Social Media Marketing, now teaches two sections of AP Econ. On top of this, Kinsman continues to teach one section of a class she taught years prior, Intro to Business. AP Econ covers both Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, offering students a challenging education in economic theory.

Despite making the huge transition from unleveled classes to teaching an AP, Kinsman said she’s “really enjoying it.” One challenge she described is “staying on top of the students and going over the units beforehand, to make sure [she has] everything ready for them.”

STAFF PHOTO / Carissa Dessin
AHS has added an Advanced Placement (AP) Economics course to its business curriculum this year, providing students with a deeper understanding of economic principles.

AP Econ introduces students to complex concepts like the production possibilities curve and marginal analysis, which Kinsman integrates with real-world applications. She conducts classes in a way that maximizes engagement, spending the first part of class lecturing and then transitioning to “hands-on engagement experiences in class time, so students can see how it [relates] to different scenarios in their day-to-day life.”

Senior Gavin Mottley described the class as going really well so far. “Economics is new for me,” he continued, “but it’s a lot easier to internalize information even though it started out as a totally foreign language.”

Mottley initially found interpreting two-way tables that demonstrate comparative advantage between countries challenging but gained clarification from Kinsman’s teaching method. “[She] had us work together in groups in a game that had us practicing exactly that. It helped me a lot because I got to work with my classmates; asking them questions helped [reduce] the confusion I had, and helping them when they needed it reinforced the ideas I was more comfortable with.”

Senior Arushi Biswas also reflected on the challenges and rewards of the class. She initially found the production possibilities curve and related graphs confusing but credited the summer work with helping her stay on track.

When it came to registering for the class last spring, Biswas was first drawn to the class because she was interested in pursuing a degree in business and wanted to get a feel for her future classes. “I think students should get educated in economics because it teaches you how the economy works, when to save and when to invest, how to make informed decisions,” she said. “It gives you a good understanding of society and policy.”

Looking ahead, Kinsman is eager to dive into more advanced topics and continue making the material of the course relevant to the students’ lives. She hopes for them to see how truly applicable all of the information that they are learning is in their lives. “I think it’s just really applicable to your day-to-day life like…we do a lot of economic theory, without really realizing that’s what it’s called.”

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Andover Responds to EEE, Implements Mosquito Control Measures

October 7, 2024

By Harry Guo
Executive Editor

EEE has become more common in the areas near Andover over the past 10 to 15 years. The town’s Arbovirus Response Plan, initially created in response to the West Nile virus, is adaptable to EEE and guides their current strategies. Their efforts start every April when they review data from the previous year and develop work plans for mosquito control.

“This year, we saw EEE appear at the end of July in Haverhill and Amesbury, where we usually don’t see it,” said Thomas Carbone, Andover’s Director of Public Health. “We anticipated its spread… and chose to have the mosquito control district treat the brush along athletic fields in August, prior to the start of fall sports.” The early mosquito spraying has so far allowed AHS to maintain its regular schedule of sports practices and games.

In response to EEE, teachers have become more cautious during outdoor activities for their classes. “I make sure that [bug] spray is available to students when we go outside,” said Melanie Cutler, a science teacher and advisor of both the Garden and Environmental clubs. Despite these precautions, she has observed that there hasn’t been a significant shift in student attitudes regarding outdoor activities this school year, contrasting previous years when EEE was more prevalent.

STAFF PHOTO / Harry Guo
Seniors Tyler Buono and Collin Souza doing fieldwork outside for Melanie Cutler’s C Block AP Environmental Science class amidst EEE season.

Even though safety against EEE remains a priority, the approach to protecting student-athletes from the disease is largely individualized and not the responsibility of the coaches. “Everybody is aware of what the implications are if this disease is contracted,” said Wayne Puglisi, the Athletic Director for Andover Public Schools. These implications include headache, fever, chills, and vomiting. More severe cases of EEE may progress into disorientation, seizures, encephalitis (brain inflammation), and coma.

According to Carbone, residents should use mosquito repellent, wear long sleeved shirts and pants, and regularly check their yards for standing water to reduce mosquito breeding sites. “Untreated swimming pools are a prime breeding ground,” said Carbone. “As is standing water in roof gutters, children’s pools, bird baths, and abandoned tires.” However, there are no additional school-wide measures beyond general awareness and these personal precautions.

While the impact of EEE has been stifled by preventative measures, climate change continues to drive the increase of tick- and mosquito-borne viruses, according to Cutler. “When we have cold winters and hard frosts… a big percentage of their population tends to die off each year,” she explained. “That helps to keep the mosquito and tick population in check.” However, as climate change raises average winter temperatures, more of these pests survive the season, increasing the risk of virus transmission.

“Bird migrations inform… the 10 year EEE cycle,” said Carbone. “When we get more intense rainstorms and hotter weather, it invites the proliferation of mosquitoes.” Additionally, Andover is also monitoring other exotic mosquito borne illnesses moving northward, such as the Zika virus.

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New Principal Settles Into AHS

October 4, 2024

By Anya Gorovits
STAFF WRITER

D’Andrea first came to AHS last spring, and after applying for the position of principal and being hired, he spent several months adjusting to the school over the summer. Now, just over a month into school, D’Andrea has already left many positive impressions and made several beneficial changes. “I really like our new principal so far,” said sophomore Anika Abbot.

D’Andrea decided to apply to AHS and came for an interview with students, teachers, parents, and office staff last April. He was offered the position after his finalist interview and moved to Andover in June. D’Andrea loves the town so far, and especially how committed Andover is to its public schools.

STAFF PHOTO / Anya Gorovits
Principal D’Andrea gets to know senior John Nies during lunch

“There is so much community support for Andover public schools in general…and that’s not common.” Massachusetts is also the coldest place D’Andrea has ever lived in, “I’m interested [and] nervous,” he said, interested about our winter sports teams but nervous for our snowy winters.

D’Andrea has already made two important changes that are strongly appreciated around the school. Math teacher Krista Hibino, along with most students, finds the extended passing period time very helpful. Another vital change is the loss of the tardy line, letting students get to class faster. “I feel like a lot of time was wasted in just standing in that line,” said Abbot.

D’Andrea has ambitious goals as principal. He’s already working on learning the names of all AHS staff and students, something he’s done at every school he’s worked at. D’Andrea also wants to make every AHS student feel like a part of the Andover community, no matter what activities they are a part of. D’Andrea spends a lot of time working on this by talking to and getting to know students during lunch and before school. ”I think it’s sweet that he greets everyone in the morning,” said Abbot. He also comes to sports games, both at home and away, posting clips of them on his Instagram page.

D’Andrea’s Instagram page is a part of his main goal of communication. He finds it very important to get word out in a school as big as Andover. So, he’s started leaving automated messages for parents on Sundays and will continue doing so all year long. Hibino added, ”I’ve really enjoyed working with him, and I appreciate that he’s very communicative.”

D’Andrea has enjoyed his time at AHS so far and is looking forward to getting to know the students, school, and town better. “Everybody’s been so friendly. It really seems like an incredible place,” he commented.

Hopeful New Addition to AHS Administration

October 4, 2024

By Abby Chachus
STAFF WRITER

Hall previously worked at Lowell Catholic High School as an assistant principal for three years, and as a history teacher there nine years before becoming assistant principal. The excitement of working at AHS really began to build for him when he started noticing aspects of the community that were exceptionally different from his old job.

One event that sparked his interest was the annual Club Fair on September 23. “Lowell Catholic doesn’t have anywhere near that many clubs,” he marveled. He also expressed being impressed at the variety of topics students were interested in, pointing out the Jewish Student Union and Robotics.

When asked, new principal James “Jimmy” D’Andrea expressed hopefulness regarding Hall’s ability to help him improve the school spirit and community outside of students’ niche interests. D’Andrea acknowledged the students’ enjoyment of individual topics but hoped the entire student body could come together and support topics outside of their main interests.

The decision of choosing the new administrator was not easy, D’Andrea expressed that Hall is a good fit, specifically stating that Hall has experiences in multiple departments at the high school level.

“He’s had the opportunity to work with a lot of departments and a lot of different activities, because he was the only assistant principal [at Lowell Catholic],” D’Andrea said.

“AHS is starkly different, not just in the structure and size of the building, but the clubs and activities students are involved in. That inspires me,” said Hall.

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“Can U Do Me a Favor?”: Hacker Pirates AHS Instagrams

October 4, 2024

By Ella Hu
STAFF WRITER

All hacked accounts are managed by the hacker, who turned accounts into baits for money and places to post art content. Many AHS students mentioned receiving DMs on Instagram from hacked accounts asking for $50 or to use their profile picture.

Junior Ana Murray first received a DM from a friend on her Instagram account asking for help, for Murray’s phone number and for her to answer a link sent to her number. Everything happened quickly, and Murray offered her help without suspecting anything. With a hold of Murray’s phone number, the hacker had full access to her information, including access to her passwords and accounts.

STAFF PHOTO / Ella Hu
Sophomore Anya Gorovits receives text message from compromised Instagram account asking for a favor.

“The text sounded normal coming from my friend,” Murray said. “The timing and the tone really sounded like her and something she would say.” Murray followed the hacker’s instructions, which ended up compromising her Instagram account.

Later, she discovered her friend’s Instagram account was hacked, and now her account was too. “After I provided my phone number, I lost access to my account and couldn’t open it,” she said. “The whole thing disappeared, and I started getting weird texts… when I blocked them, I would get another message from a new email or phone number asking for money.”

Principal James D’Andrea was made aware of the hacking phenomenon, which has also been affecting students’ access to their school email accounts. “If students’ Instagram accounts are hacked with their email logged on, they will be locked out of their emails as a protection management,” he said. “A lot of things in the school system are designed to ensure that systems in the school district remain safe from potential cyber-attacks or threats.”

It is difficult for apps to keep up with all the ways hackers can compromise user accounts using unsuspecting messages. However, D’Andrea said, “We know new technologies are developing and evolving so we have to constantly monitor what is happening behind the scenes… it is our priority that beyond academics, students are physically safe… emotionally safe, and ultimately, technologically safe.”

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Ninth Grade Coordinator Ganci Steps Up to Assistant Principal Gap

October 4, 2024

By Eva Liss
EXECUTIVE EDITOR

The absence of previous assistant principal Rebecca Perry, who was recently hired as Doherty Middle School’s principal, left a gap in AHS administrative staffing. Ganci, who was uniquely positioned as the ninth-grade coordinator to connect with students, families, and staff across many middle schools in the district, was hired as Perry’s replacement in late August.

Initially, Ganci said she was hesitant to give up her position as ninth grade coordinator, as she loved her job—especially the student-facing aspect, which enabled her to get to know over a quarter of the AHS population extremely well. Ganci said she applied rather late to the position because of this, and expressed that weighing the benefits of the ninth-grade coordinator job with the needs of the greater AHS community made her reconsider the impact she could have within the school. She also said she valued the opportunity to further aid the AHS community in being a supportive space for all.

“I developed a skill set through [ninth grade coordinating] to do this job,” said Ganci on her motivation to apply. “It felt like the next logical step—the right move for the school and the team. I care very deeply… about this school [and] the students… it just kind of made sense to… take that leap.”

Ganci worked as the ELA program coordinator for six years, before transitioning to the ninth-grade coordinator job at the start of last year, and though the positions’ responsibilities are different, she expressed that she wasn’t fazed. She said she was originally “absolutely intimidated” at the more disciplinary aspects of the assistant principal job, but that her work with last year’s freshman class prepared her more than she expected. In addition, Ganci considers herself driven by a strong sense of care and responsibility for her students, which aids her in overcoming her nerves.

“We’re advocates for students, even on their worst day,” Ganci said. “Just because [a student] had a bad day or… made a bad choice doesn’t mean… we’re not going to have faith in them. That’s what was really appealing to me.”

With all these staffing changes, the AHS community has been under continuous pressure to adapt to and incorporate new members of the administrative community. But both Ganci and new principal James “Jimmy” D’Andrea expressed gratitude for their reception to their new positions, and confidence that the students and staff would propel the school year in a continually positive direction. Ganci has aided with the ninth-grade coordinator role in the interim, as interviews were conducted during September and into early October.

“We’ll be fully transitioning once we hire a new person, but I think she has done an excellent job,” said D’Andrea. “We aim to build on that foundation in the coming year.”

The ninth-grade coordinator search was expected to end in the first week of October, after interviews from AHS staff, students, and families, as well as Andover Human Resources and Superintendent Parvey. The filling of this position marks the first time the AHS administrative staff has been complete, without any interim positions, since the 2022-2023 school year. Ganci is glad to be a part of it and feels that her main goal is to continue supporting the students and “rolling with [the changes.]”

“All students deserve somebody who’s going to advocate for them,” she said. “We’re able to help struggling students and make everyone feel welcome here. When we have these bumps… I just hope… students feel respected and understood.”