New Year, New Me - Arlington Catholic High School

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New Year, New Me - Arlington Catholic High School
New Year, New Me
By Victoria Caggiano
                                                                                                                                           What is your
                                                                                                                                           New Years
                                                                                                                                           Resolution?
Cougar Growl Reporter
  “New year, new me,” as most say as they ring in the New
Year, making promises to change or to better themselves.               Word of the Year
A resolution is an act of resolving or determining upon an
action. New Year’s resolutions surprisingly go back farther         Each year, Webster dictionary names one word as the
than expected–they come from Roman religious origins.             most looked up or consulted. This year, students in Mrs.
Romans imagined their god, Janus, looking backward into           Billings’ classes created their own words of the year. After
the old year and forward into the new year. They would            a vote, the winning word is. . .
make promises to their god at the start of each year. Janus
gives her name to January therefore having the new year
start that month. The Romans would pay their dues and re-
                                                                                         Drip
turn borrowed objects.                                            Definition: An adjective used to describe your outfit, ac-                “To make a final de-
  Most people promise to eat better, or be more organized,        cessories, and overall style; similar to swag.                          cision about college”
whether it be school or work. After an informal survey,
                                                                                                                                          -Angela Caggiano’19
over 70 percent of people don’t stick to their resolutions.       Reasoning: the term “drip” started in the Hip-Hop com-
The common reason for not keeping these promises is that          munity; it was used by artists to describe their designer
people say “There’s no time,” or “I’m too busy.” By mak-          clothing, jewelry, and other accessories that are considered
ing these promises to ourselves, we need to stick with them.      “stylish.” The word has become widely used among people
  When choosing a resolution, in order to really stick with it,   -- especially teens.
be realistic and choose something that is possible for you to
better yourself and the people around you. Hopefully, with        Sentence: The outfit he has on is drip.
the support of others, you will find sticking with your reso-
lution less of an obligation. These promises began by people       To discover Webster’s word of the year or the day, visit
wanting to do right by themselves and their god. This is          Webster. com. To learn more about words that are making
much like today, as we all make promises for ourselves as         an impact at AC, see one of Mrs. Billings’ students.
we countdown the seconds to 2019.

2019: Year of the Pig
                                                                                                                                           “To make honor roll”
                                                                                                                                         - Caroline Buckley ‘20

By Tianxiang (Mike) Xie
Guest Reporter

   The Spring Festival is a traditional festival of the moth-
 erland, also known as the New Year, the first year. The
 Spring Festival, on February 5th this year, is a festival of
 reunion of the Chinese nation. People are reunited with
 their loved ones as much as possible on this day. Everyone
 has a reunion dinner and watches the Spring Festival party
 together. The Spring Festival is a farewell to the old year,
 welcoming the new year, reviewing and summarizing the                                                                                    “To do well this
 past, looking forward to the future.                                                                                                    hockey season” - Fitzy
   On this day, people have to wear new clothes, which sym-                                                                              Somerville ‘21
 bolizes a new year and a new look. The elders will send a
 red envelope with money to the younger generation to ex-
 press their blessings. Firecrackers and beautiful fireworks
 will paint the night sky with vibrant colors. When the 12
 o’clock bell rings, we will know that the new year is here.

                                                                                                                                           “To not get injured
                                                                                                                                          during anymore sports
                                                                                                                                          seasons” - Maggie
                                                                                                                                          Milne ‘22
                                                                                                      Photo Courtesty of Tianxiang Xie
                                                                  Shanghai preparing for Chinese New Year.

                                                                            Page 1
New Year, New Me - Arlington Catholic High School
Cougar Growl
                                                                  Academics                                                                     Winter 2018-2019

   College Tours Provide Insight           Worcester college accepts a GPA
  By Maddy Murphy
                                           average of 3.81 and a SAT score
                                                                                                             Survey Results
  Cougar Growl Reporter
                                           of 1300. Holy Cross is a tougher
                                           school to get into with an imposing
    Not knowing where to tour col-         acceptance rate of 37%. All sports
  leges can be one of the more             teams are Division I, which is very
  stressful things you face in your up-    impressive because they are such
  perclassmen years of high school.        a small school. The school’s an-
  Junior year can be the most hec-         nual net price is $49,980. An AC
  tic of a person’s high school ca-        Senior told the Cougar Growl they
  reer. Between SAT prep, studying,        “Loved: Jesuit identity, scenery,
  clubs, and sports, finding the time      community, medium size.”
  to even tour a school might be too         Stonehill College is a small
  much. If you are feeling lost, hope-     Catholic school located in Easton,
  fully this article can be the beacon     Massachusetts with a total student
  of light to the start of your journey.   population of 2,498 and an accep-
    University of Massachusetts Am-        tance rate of 75.2%. Incoming stu-
  herst, located in Amherst, Mas-          dents average a 3.34 GPA and SAT
  sachusetts, holds 28,635 students        scores (of 1100) are optional. “The
  with an acceptance rate of 58%.          programs they offer are relevant to      Juniors and seniors rated college tour experiences on a scale from 1-10, the
  UMass Amherst’s net price is an-         what I want to study, and it’s easy      total visits each school received is reflected inside the bars.
  nually $30,069. Some of their            to combine majors and minors for
  “Points of Pride” are their rigor-       a specialized study programs. The        marily accepts students with a 3.29     people around campus. I also liked
  ous academic standards and large         sports teams are great too.” said an     GPA and above, only requiring a         the size of the school and campus.
  student social life. UMass Amherst       AC Senior. Their annual net price        SAT score of 1100. UMass Lowell         It was very casual,” expressed an
  accepts on average a GPA of 3.73         is $42,729, but do not fret: out of      has over 100 undergraduate majors.      AC Senior. Providence College’s
  (on a 4.0 scale) and a SAT score         1500 colleges, Stonehill is rated          Providence College, located in        sticker price is $64,984 a year.
  roughly averaging 1290 and above.        in the top 10% of best value in US       Providence, Rhode Island, is get-       PC’s most popular major is biology
  “I loved the big campus and the          colleges for your tuition dollar.        ting increasingly more competitive      followed by business.
  food was really good,” reported an         “UMass Lowell is a fantastic           as the years go by with an accep-         College tours can only be de-
  AC junior. UMass Amherst’s caf-          school with so many options re-          tance rate of 56.8%. You must have      scribed as a hit or a miss. It may be
  eteria has been awarded ‘best food’      garding career choice and the cam-       a minimum GPA of 3.41. Provi-           boring and overall absolutely ter-
  three years in a row.                    pus is really nice and inviting,” said   dence College has optional SAT          rible, but they can also be the most
    Holy Cross is considered as one of     an AC junior. University Of Mas-         scores, but if your score is 1140 or    exciting and the first page to your
  the greatest Catholic colleges in the    sachusetts Lowell has an accep-          above its highly recommend to sub-      new chapter in life. Thank you to
  US, competing against Boston Col-        tance rate of 56.8% and an in-state      mit. “I loved that everyone on the      everyone who participated in this
  lege and Notre Dame. Holy Cross          tuition of $13,427. They currently       campus came off as very friendly        survey and vocalized their opinion.
  has roughly 3,020 attending. This        house 17,849 students. UML pri-          and that the guide knew a lot of

SAIL Club offers Leadership
By Samantha Klein                       and November 4th. Each tour ran for gifts to support AC students.               lic to raise funds. Members of this
SAIL Vice-President                     for about 30 minutes and included The event was a huge success —                committee brainstorm prizes for
  As one of Arlington Catholic’s        brief overviews of the core aca- $2100 was raised by SAIL! Con-                 alumni and parents to donate dur-
most popular student-led organi-        demic subjects, sports, and clubs. gratulations to Karina Hananian              ing the month of March.
zations, the SAIL (Student Am-          Thanks to the SAIL members’ con- and Abby Flaherty for the highest                The Senior Tassel Challenge
bassador Internship League) Club        siderable knowledge of Arlington number of pledges!                             members promote fundraising for
reflects on a successful first semes-   Catholic, families were able to ask     The Social Media Committee re-          graduating seniors. As these stu-
ter.                                    questions about the school and volves around the Giving Tuesday                 dents donate an amount equal to
  The club is comprised of 102          learn more about the high school movement. Members are asked to                 their commencement year (i.e.,
highly motivated juniors and se-        admissions process.                   design their own campaign by ex-          $20.19), they will receive a tassel
niors. The objectives of SAIL             All SAIL members are assigned pressing a story. They use photo-               to wear at graduation. All proceeds
include publicizing Arlington           to at least one of five committees: graphs and videos to capture the            will be distributed to anywhere in
Catholic within the community           Phone-a-thon, Social Media, Event story and encourage individuals to            the school that students want! The
and raising funds for the school.       Scheduling, March Madness, and share, like and comment. Facebook                challenge will begin in January and
SAIL also works alongside Cam-          Senior Spirit Tassel. Within each Live makes it easy for the audience           last until commencement.
pus Ministry at parish events to        committee, there are chairpersons to support the cause.                           Throughout their SAIL expe-
represent Arlington Catholic in the     who lead the group and report back      The Event Scheduling Commit-            rience, members have adopted
St. Agnes community. In addition,       to faculty.                           tee coordinates tours for families        numerous management skills
SAIL members organize fundrais-           The Smilin’ and Dialin’ Phone- who are unable to attend the open              that they will apply in the fu-
ers with current students, faculty,     a-thon event was held on Novem- houses. The members of this com-                ture. “SAIL has brought lifelong
parents, and alumni.                    ber 27th in collaboration with the mittee spend their study periods or          friends and great leadership op-
  Starting in September, the or-        AC Development Office. Because lunchtime to guide tours. The stu-               portunities that I am lucky to
ganization prepared for a hectic        tuition does not fully cover the ex- dents also organize activities for         have in college and beyond.” —
three months. After extensive           pense of educating each student at Accepted Students Night (held in             Matthew Smith, SAIL president.
planning for the fall open houses,      Arlington Catholic, fundraising is the spring) and Orientation.
SAIL members led individual             necessary. SAIL members called          March Madness is the greatest
tours to families on October 4th        parents and alumni by phone to ask opportunity for Arlington Catho-
                                                                            Page 2
New Year, New Me - Arlington Catholic High School
Cougar Growl
                                                         Faith and Healing                                                                     Winter 2018-2019

Meet Our New Parish Priests
By Lily Fitzgerald                        Where did you grow up?          Seton Hall, who helped me dis-                    erhood of Hope’s house, where
Cougar Growl Reporter                     Father Mark: I was raised in    cern the call through prayer, to                  I began to see myself doing
Over the next few editions, the            Billerica.                     be a single person in service to                  this. Most people thought it was
Cougar Growl will share a series          Father Michael: I’m not sure that’s
                                                                          God. My father was not thrilled                   crazy that anyone would become
of interviews with the new priests,        happened yet, but some say in  at first that I made the choice to                a priest, but when they thought
allowing you to know more about            Needham, MA.                   become a priest. This changed                     about me becoming one they said
them, especially if you’re too shy        Father Robert: I grew up in India.
                                                                          and my family and friends were,                   it made sense.
to start a conversation with them.                                        and are, most supportive.                        Father Robert: I was inspired by
Each new addition will have two or                                       Father  Michael: I was inspired by                 priest’s dedication and sacrifice
three questions for Father Michael, What inspired you to be a             multiple events (one of which                     for evangelization, to preach the
Father Robert, and Father Mark,      priest?   What   was  your family    occurred during a retreat in                      word of God and to do God’s
for your enjoyment. Make sure to     and   friends’  reactions to  your   my senior year of high school)                    work for God’s people. My fam-
always pick up a newspaper the       choice to be a priest?               which prompted me to begin to                     ily and friends encouraged my
moment it comes out to check out    Father  Mark: I was inspired  to be-  think about offering everything                   choice to become a priest.
the interviews.                      come a priest by several people      to God. This idea was put off at
                                     during my life, My pastor, Father    first, because I had a girlfriend at             Father Mark is often available in
*some responses were edited for      Joe,  teachers at Austin Prep,  and  the time, and saw my future with                 the chapel during WIN block, see
grammar and length purposes.         especially my girlfriend, Regina,    her, but this changed when I did                 your email for more information.
                                     during my sophomore year at          a spring break trip to the Broth-

Valiant Women in Faith
By Grace O’Connell
Guest Reporter
   On Thursday, November 8th, I
accompanied the girls in the junior
class to the annual junior retreat as
a retreat leader. I, as well as other
female leaders in the senior class,
were chosen to be group mentors
and I feel so lucky to have been able
to take part in this day of reflection.
The retreat was based around the
idea of a valiant woman. Merriam-
Webster defines valiant as “pos-
sessing or acting with bravery or
boldness: courageous” and “marked
by, exhibiting, or carried out with
courage or determination: heroic.”
  Throughout the day, the idea and
characteristics of a valiant woman
were incorporated into every activ-
ity. Students were encouraged to
reflect on valiant women in their
lives and how they, themselves, are
                                                                                                                                                  Photo by Mrs. Mustone
valiant women. The day consisted           Students meet in small groups to reflect on the relationships in their lives.
of faith, honesty, openness, and sup-
port. Throughout the day, students         that I and the other students admired     ship in their lives, and the support     names of valiant women were
switched between being all together        and took to our small groups.             the rest of the group gave to each       pronounced. The room went from
and in small groups.                         In small groups, junior girls and       group member who shared.                 pitch black to lit up as each student
  As a group, we heard witness             their retreat leaders discussed their       Towards the end of the day, all of     named a courageous, brave, and de-
talks from Ms. Franchini, a theol-         relationship with God, as well as         the junior girls, retreat leaders, and   termined woman in their life. This
ogy teacher, and Hannah, a senior          their relationships with friends,         adults joined one another in the cha-    moment was unforgettable and truly
student and retreat leader. These          families, partners, and more. My          pel for a special activity. Each stu-    moving.
two woman bravely told stories of          group was a mix of many different         dent was given a candle, the lights        Overall, the day was beautiful and
something negative they had expe-          girls with different interests, some      were turned off, and everybody was       inspiring, displaying the great love
rienced, how it affected them men-         having never talked to one another        instructed to be silent. Ms. Heston      and support within the Arlington
tally, emotionally, and physically,        before. Despite not everyone being        started off, naming a valiant woman      Catholic community. The junior re-
how God supported them through             best friends, my group was unified        in her life and used her lit candle to   treat is something all students can
their struggle and how they dis-           by our womanhood and our respect          light Ms. Mustone’s candle who           look forward to, and all past stu-
covered they were valiant women.           for one another. It was moving to         then named a valiant woman in her        dents will remember forever.
These personal accounts displayed          see the openness of students sharing      life and passed the flame along.
courage, vulnerability, and strength,      an inner conflict or a personal hard-     Each student’s candle was lit and
                                                                                Page 3
New Year, New Me - Arlington Catholic High School
Cougar Growl
                                                                             Sports                                                              Winter 2018-2019

                                          Thanksgiving Football
                                           By Andrew Metellus                             facing off against Waltham High.         The Cougars went to the locker
                                           Cougar Growl Reporter                          The reasoning for the change is        room more hyped up than they had
                                                                                          currently unknown to players, but it   been all season, as they were mo-
                                            Arguably the biggest game of the              could be presumed that due to past     ments away from defeating AHS.
  Don’t let your team be left              season for the Arlington Catholic              conflicts on and off the field this    But the worst was to come and an
                                           Football team, which was unfor-                change was necessary.                  interception was thrown by the
 on the sideline. Become a
                                           tunately moved--last-minute-- to                 Before the game, first year head     Cougars. The momentum shifted
 COUGAR GROWL sports                       Thanksgiving Eve due to “unplay-               coach, Anthony Petrelis, gave a        towards AHS as they turned that
 reporter.                                 able weather conditions”, was                  powerful speech to the Cougars         interception into a touchdown. The
                                           played against its all-time rival,             and the locker room was roaring        Cougars had one last chance to
  AC athletes and fans are                 Arlington High School. This may                with shouts of readiness. The game     make a comeback after being down
 strongly encouraged to send               possibly be the last bout between              began and the Arlington Catholic       just one point. Unfortunately, the
                                           the two high schools as next year              Cougars came out hot, with senior      Cougars turned over the ball in the
 photos and captions. These
                                           Arlington Catholic will continue               captain Riley Donovan on fire for      last minutes of the game and they
 pictures could be featured                the Thanksgiving tradition against             the first and second halves, making    fell in heart-crushing fashion to
 in the the school newspaper               divisional rival Shawsheen Valley              crucial passes for multiple Cougar     AHS, 21-20.
 or the BOSTON GLOBE                       Tech, and Arlington High will be               touchdowns.
 sports page or online.

 Contact:

                                          Varsity Boys Basketball
  TheCougarGrowl@achs.
 net for more information or
 see Mrs. Gould in room 103.

                                                                                          By Chris Paul                         Beaubrun, Lambert Nyembo and
                                                                                          Guest Reporter                        Chandler Garcia. There is only one
                                                                                                                                sophomore, Kyle Alcy, on the team
                                                                                            The Boy’s Varsity Basketball and two freshmen, Chris Paul and
                                                                                          Team started the season Decem- Dimitry Philippe. The last game of
                                                                                          ber 11th against Bishop Fenwick, the regular season is February 19th,
                                                                                          with mostly seniors in the starting followed by the Hamilton Wenham
                                                                                          lineup, as is typical for most games. Tournament. Come see us play, we
                                                                                          They are: Jack Connaughton, Joe need and love all the support. Go
                                                                                          Greenwood, T.J. Magliozzi and Cougars!
                                                                                          Packy Bradley-Cooney while junior
                                                                                          Cam Garber slots in at center. The
                                                                                          other seniors on the team are Jeff
                                                                                          Orelus, Sean Simmons, Givaughn
                                                          Photo Courtesty of Chris Paul
 The varsity boys basketball team lines up on the home court for an early sea-
 son photo.

Powder Puff Football
By Kathryn Van Winkle                     being voided. Even with a mem-
Cougar Growl Reporter                     ber of their team being injured, the
                                          Seniors persisted, scoring again,
  On November 28, our Juniors and         which--before the half--made the
Seniors took the field for AC’s an-       score 12-0. After halftime, the Se-
nual Powder Puff Football game.           niors wasted no time in scoring their
After being mentored by our own           third touchdown, pushing their lead
AC football players, the girls were       to 18. After 5 plays, the Juniors
ready to see which grade would            scored their first upheld touchdown
come out victorious. As per tradi-        of the game which made the score
tion, our Juniors wore blue and our       18-6. Sadly for them, the Seniors
seniors wore black.                       countered a few minutes later by
  At 2:45, the teams took their           again increasing their lead back to
marks. Although they faced weather        18 points. After the return, the Se-
that felt like a frigid 32 degrees, the   niors and Juniors formed a black                                                               Photo by Kathryn Van Winkle

Seniors came out swinging with a          and blue pile at the 50. In the end, Senior Erin Donlan recieves a pass from the senior’s quarterback, Katie Regan
75 yard touchdown. A few plays            the Seniors scored again in the final
later, the Juniors were penalized         minutes of the game making the
after a senior was tackled to the         final score 30-6.                     exhibited excellent sportsmanship. We thank everyone for their hard
ground, which foreshadowed their            No matter the score, all of the Our gracious boys’ football players work and participation. Till next
only touchdown in the first half          players did a wonderful job and were both great refs and mentors. time Cougars!

                                                                                 Page 4
New Year, New Me - Arlington Catholic High School
Cougr Growl
                                                                          Sports                                                                               Winter 2018-2019

Serving Up One Last Ride
By Bianca Burke                      in both sets. Led by captains Ka-
Cougar Growl Reporter                trina Perez, Mari Ball, and Kris-
                                     ten O’Keefe, the team finished its
  Bang! The gun shatters the The season with a remarkable record
Arlington Catholic Girls Varsity of 21-2. Not only did the girls
Volleyball Team, who just fin- gain this well-deserved record, but
ished a very successful and en- they also achieved their season’s
during season. The team ended goal of becoming Central Catho-
its season on a nail-biting loss                   lic League Champi-
to Burlington High “I’m sad the season’s over ons. The team played
School in the semi- because I’m going to miss with pride, skill, and
finals of the Divi- playing volleyball with the joy all throughout its
sion II North State seniors and this team.” season and could not
Tournament. The                                    be more deserving of
Lady Cougars were         -Caroline Macri ‘ 21     this title. Although
defeated in their first                            their incredible 2018
set 25-22, but came back in the season has just ended, the Lady
second set with a ferocious win, Cougars are hungry for their next                                                                                       Photo taken by Coach Killian
26-24. Unfortunately, the Devils season, in hopes of becoming                          The Varsity Volleyball Team at one of their greatest defeats against Winchester High School.
fought back in the third and fourth the 2019 Division II North State
sets, defeating the Cougars 25-21 Champions.

Indoor Track is Back; Mrs. Dever’s Long Run
By Connor Hamilton
Guest Reporter                         4. This Marathon is one of the “Six
                                       Major Marathons of the World,”
  Winter sports are back and that      the other marathons being The Bos-
means indoor track is running back,    ton Marathon, Chicago Marathon,
every other sport’s punishment.        London Marathon; Tokyo Mara-
The track team is looking forward      thon, and Berlin Marathon. Mrs.
to yet another season and hoping       Dever ran a 5-hour 45 minute race
for a good record for the combined     which comes out to be a 12-minute
boys’ and girls’ team. This team       mile pace, which is amazing. Mrs.
will be coached by Mr. Killion;        Dever was able to achieve this time
Father Michael for distance; and       by running through all the boroughs
                                                                                                                                                          Photo Courtesy of Mrs. Dever
Coach John, Coach Serena, and Fa-      of New York, starting in Staten
ther Michael for sprints. There have   Island, going through Brooklyn,                 AC English Teacher Mrs. Dever crosses the finish line in the New York
been a lot of new runners joining      then Queens. After Queens is The                Marathon. This is her third run to raise money for The Children’s Hospital
                                                                                       Miles for Miracles goup. The Miles for Miracles runners raised in total more
and they look ready to take on the     Bronx, and she finished up in Man-
                                                                                       than $400,000 dollars by running in the New York City Marathon this year.
competition. Their first meet will     hattan. But she didn’t do it alone.             According to Boston Children’s Hospital, “funds help Boston Children’s
be on Tuesday December 11 at the       Over 60,000 people from around                  change the future of healthcare for every child, here and around the world.
Reggie Lewis Center, where all the     the world came to participate in this           Through the Every Child Fund, we treat the whole child, support families
meets are held. While on the topic     great event. So, we say, “Keep up               and fund research to end all childhood diseases.” Learn more about this and
of running, we had one of our own      the great running Mrs. Dever!” and              other opportunities to give at Children’s Hospital by visiting http://giving.
teachers, Mrs. Dever, running the      good luck to the track team.                    childrenshospital.org/.

                                                                                      Red Sox Win Series
New York Marathon on November

                                                                                      By Arlene Guerra                                 was trying catching a ball, but a
                                                                                      Cougar Growl Reporter                            fan was trying to catch it too. Be-
                                                                                        “A true Red Sox fan believes                   cause of fan interference , the play
                                                                                      in the team but has a little bit of              was called an out which changed
                                                                                      hesitation” said Patricia McShane.               the game’s momentum and could
                                                                                      Since the Red Sox were in both the               have cost the Astros the game. The
                                                                                      American League Championship                     Red Sox won the game 8-6 giving
                                                                                      Series (ALCS) and in the World                   them a 3 games to 1 lead over the
                                                                                      Series (WS), I began following                   Astros. After winning ALCS title,
                                                                                      and learned a lot about baseball                 the Red Sox moved on to the WS
                                                                                      along the way. So much so that I                 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
                                                                                      felt like I had been watching the                After taking the first two games
                                                                                      team since opening day. When the                 in Boston, the Red Sox lost Game
                                                                                      team opened the playoffs against                 3 in extra innings. Game 3 broke
                                                                                      New York Yankees, Red Sox fans                   not 1, but 2 records being the lon-
                                                                                      knew that they were in for quite a               gest game, 7 hours and 20 mins,
                                                                                      treat in the division series. After              and most innings, 18, in WS his-
                                                                                      beating long-time rivals the Yan-                tory. The Red Sox recovered and
                                                                                      kees, all that was in the way of the             won the next two games, winning
                                                      Photo Courtesy of Ms. Delaria   2018 ALCS title were the Hous-                   the WS 4 games to 1. In the end,
Lansdowne Street on the night of Game 2 of the World Series in Boston.                ton Astros. During Game 4 of                     a little hesitation went a long way.
                                                                                      the ALCS, Boston’s Mookie Bett

                                                                              Page 5
New Year, New Me - Arlington Catholic High School
Cougar Growl
                                                                            Clubs                                                                   Winter 2018-2019

Homework Club:
Tutoring & Community
By Andra Preda
Cougar Growl Reporter
                                    tors ask what homework needs
  What is Homework Club? This to be completed, and what the
club is a gathering of Arlington students are especially in need of
Catholic students who volunteer learning. The St. Anges students,
one hour each Thursday to tutor St. too, are enthusiastic about this                                                                       Photo Courtesy of Mrs. Bennedeti

Agnes students with their home- acandemic opportunity.                                   The Mock Trial Team at Woburn District Court House.
work. In addition to creating a       Ultimately, Homework Club is

                                                                                         Mock Trial
quiet learning environment for the a group of students—both high                                                                 drug incidents. It may all seem
younger students,                   school and middle school—who
                                                                                                                                 like fun and games until the con-
Homework Club                                      look forward to
                                                                                                                                 sequences for you or your friends
provides an excel- “It is nice to be able enrichment and                                  By: Liana Winans
                                                                                                                                 become harsh, and very real. After-
lent opportunity to interact with St. learning. Every                                     Growl Reporter
                                                                                                                                 wards, the students got to stop by
for interaction be-                                week, St. Agnes
                                                                                                                                 Gail Ann’s to relax before heading
tween St. Agnes           Agnes kids,              students learn from                      The AC Mock Trial team is open
                                                                                                                                 off to 4th lunch at school.
and Arlington         especially in their AC            students, and
                                                   the AC students
                                                                                          to all AC students, and is a fun
                                                                                          way to learn how the court system
                                                                                                                                   The team meets a couple times a
Catholic students.                                                                                                               month after school or during WIN
  While AC stu-      preparation      for  high    learn from them                        works and “practice law” with your
                                                                                                                                 block, where they discuss the case
                                                   as well. As high                       friends and other high schoolers. It
dents pass on their          school.”              school students,                       is a pretty low time commitment,
                                                                                                                                 and different aspects of arguing
knowledge to the                                                                                                                 law. The 2018 mock case involves
younger children,                                  we learn about                         and the most work is around the
                         Maddie Cox ‘20                                                                                          a police officer who shoots and
they learn about                                   our middle school                      actual Mock Trial in mid-January.
                                                                                                                                 kills the immigrant cousin of Grey
the children themselves and their                  community and                          The carrying out of justice by the
                                                                                                                                 Humansky, because they look al-
interests, strengths, and back- the diverse body that we hope to                          people is an essential function of
                                                                                                                                 most identical. Grey had a court
grounds. Every week, the AC tu- one day see at Arlington Catholic.                        the U.S. government, and upholds
                                                                                                                                 summons for a crime, but it ac-
                                                                                          American citizens’ freedom. This
                                                                                                                                 cidentally got sent to his cousin’s
                                                                                          is why it is so important to have
                                                                                                                                 house instead. The cousin doesn’t
                                                                                          some knowledge of the law. Even
                                                                                                                                 speak English, so when the police
                                                                                          if you don’t become a lawyer,
                                                                                                                                 arrest him, he doesn’t understand
                                                                                          chances are you’ll serve jury duty
                                                                                                                                 and the police thinks he’s being
                                                                                          someday. That is a privilege, but
                                                                                                                                 uncooperative and potentially
                                                                                          also a great responsibility that has
                                                                                                                                 harmful. Interested to find out who
                                                                                          real effects on people’s lives.
                                                                                                                                 is responsible or perhaps even
                                                                                            Just recently, the team took a
                                                                                                                                 determine the solution yourself?
                                                                                          field trip to Woburn District Court,
                                                                                                                                 Stop by Mrs. Benedetti’s room for
                                                                                          where they sat in on cases, got to
                                                                                                                                 more information! Right now, the
                                                                                          see a jury, talked with judges,
                                                                                                                                 team has over a dozen participants,
                                                                                          and met Mr. Vinny Piro, the chief
                                                                                                                                 from freshmen to seniors. See Mrs.
                                                                                          Probation Officer. Each of them
                                                                                                                                 Benedetti if you would like to learn
                                                                                          stressed the fact of how so many
                                                      Photo Courtesty of Mrs. Keirnan                                            more or find out when sign ups
Arlington Catholic student works with Saint Agnes students at the library in              teenagers get into trouble with the
                                                                                                                                 will be for next year.
Saint Agnes School.                                                                       law/court over drunk driving and

 Fashion Club
 By Sabrina Claude
 Club President

   The FIDM Fashion Club is sponsored by the Fashion Institute of De-
 sign & Merchandising. This club mentors creative high school students
 who want to pursue careers in the fashion, beauty, and entertainment
 industries. In this club, there will be many activities such as sketching,
 DIY crafts, sewing, discussions and fashion styling, and much more.
 This isn’t just fashion, but rather this is an opportunity for anyone to
 pursue whatever it is that they are passionate about in the world of art
 and design. This is also an great opportunity for members to compete for
 scholarship opportunities if interested. Each member in the club gets to
 compete to earn a $4000 scholarship award and compete for junior and
 senior scholarships. Not only will we do activities but we get to plan
 field trips, fundraising events and possibly invite guest speakers. The                connect through creativity, be open minded, respectful, and most impor-
 club started recently and it is great and interesting so far. Anybody’s                tantly have fun! No experience needed and it’s just for fun! The fashion
 creative career can start now. We encourage everyone to participate                    club meets the second and fourth Wednesday after school in room in
 in this fun experience. Our goal is to create a place where people can                 room 312, the computer lab.

                                                                                Page 6
New Year, New Me - Arlington Catholic High School
Cougar Growl
                                                                      Arts                                                                           Winter 2018-2019

 The Greatest Show Women
By Francesca Volante
Cougar Growl Reporter
  On November 17th, Arlington
Catholic Drama Club performed
its fall musical revue “The Greatest
Show Women.” The performance,                                                                                                            Photo courtesty of Saint Agnes School
inspired by the Greatest Showman,
featured Broadway songs high-                                                                                                   Carol and the Belles
lighting female empowerment.                                                                                                    By Thomas Cahill
It was a full house at Arlington                                                                                                Cougar Growl Reporter
Town Hall. Songs from musicals
                                                                                                                                  On December 7th and 8th, Saint
such as Hamilton, Wicked, Hair-
                                                                                                                                Agnes School performed Carol
spray, Mamma Mia and of course,
                                                                                                                                and the Belles. The play is set in
the Greatest Showman, were some
                                                                                                                                1954, and follows one restaurant’s
fan favorites. The show even in-
                                                                                                                                Christmas preparations. Through
cluded two songs from Into the
                                                                                                                                song and laughter, Saint Agness
Woods which will be performed in                                                         Photo courtesty of Francesca Volante
                                                                                                                                students show the true meaning of
the spring. The freshman through       ACDC performers sing “You Will Be Found,” a special song highlighting the
                                                                                                                                the season isn’t music and fame,
senior magicians, acrobats and ring    seniors.
                                                                                                                                but a baby born in a simple man-
leaders had a blast performing the
circus-themed review. We would
                                                                  Coming Soon                                                   ger.
                                                                                                                                  In the photo above Eddy Jordan,
like to thank Mrs. Billings, Ms.         Into the Woods is a musical that intertwines fairy tale characters from
                                                                                                                                the businessman (middle), Timmy
Jenison, Mr. Scalise, Ms. Kearnan,       the Brother’s Grimm. The characters venture into the woods to fulfill
                                                                                                                                Sullivan, the owner of the restau-
ACDC parents, Theater Arts Class,       their personal wishes and wants. However, will they get their “happily
                                                                                                                                rant (left), and Brendan Cahill,
crew, and our audience for making       ever after” they wished for so badly? The performance will be in April.
                                                                                                                                the chef (right), illustrate the three
this show be able to happen!
                                                                                                                                wise men of the Nativity scene.

ACDC’s Twist on Coriolanus
By Shannon Labuza
Guest Reporter

Every year the Arlington Catholic      centric future that was caused by
Drama Club participates in the         the destruction of society. Caius
Massachusetts Educational The-         Marcius/Coriolanus, is played
ater Guild High School Drama           by Shannon Labuza. Marcius’
Festival where schools compete         enemy, Tullus Aufidius, is played
with each other by perform-            by Destiny DiMarco Davila. Mar-
ing forty-minute plays. During         cius’ mother, Volumnia, is played
the preliminary rounds, six high       by Sean Donovan. Marcius’ wife,
schools are brought together to        Virgilia, is played by Olivia Co-
compete and three move on to           peland. Marcius’ friend, Comin-
the semi-final round. ACDC has         ius, is played by Bridget Driscoll.
moved on to the semi-finals in         The Roman Tribunes, Brutus and
2010 with the performance of           Sicinius, are played by Francesca
The Superheroine Monologues;           Volante and Sophia Scappichio
in 2016 with the performance of        respectively. The Volscian Soldier
The Staggering Heartbreak of Jas-      (Gary) is played by Sam Aluia.
mine Merriwether; and last year        Our amazing director is Ms. Ke-
with the performance of Faustus.       arnan and our assistant director is
This year’s performance is Co-         Sophie Pratt. Our stage manager
riolanus: the story of a female        is Francesca Volante and our as-
Roman general and fierce warrior       sistant stage manager is Isabella
named Caius Marcius who carries        Rego. The Drama Festival is al-
her army to victory against her        ways a fierce competition, but is
enemy, Aufidius and her Vols-          an amazing experience filled with
cian army. Marcius is then tasked      friendships, teamwork, learning,
to bear the events that follow her     respect, and a shared love and en-
victory and the newfound respon-       joyment of theater.
sibilities in Rome, and is forced to
deal with the consequences of her
own decisions and the decisions
of others. The show is placed                                                                                                               Photo courtesty of Shannon Labuza
in a post-apocalyptic female-                                                   Volummnia, played by Sean Donovan, pleading Coriolanus, played by Shan-
                                                                                non Labuza, to come home to Rome.

                                                                       Page 7
New Year, New Me - Arlington Catholic High School
Cougar Growl
                                                            Community                                                                    Winter 2018-2019

Best Albums of 2018
 By Moesha Dubuche and Nicole Ferrero               sidered the best on the 24-song album, accord-
                                                                                                                        Top Songs
                                                                                                                  (according to Billboard Top 100)

 Cougar Growl Reporters                             ing to their highest ranking on the Billboard                        Astroworld:
                                                    Top 100. “Nice For What” is the hit single that                      • Stargazing
  It is commonly accepted that 2018 was the         everyone expected from Drake, but not in a                           • Sicko Mode
year of the most highly anticipated albums to       negative way. It was a change of pace for the                        • Carousel
date. With all of this in mind, a survey was sent   artist who mostly sings, because most of his
out to the student body of Arlington Catholic       radio hits do not compare to the intense rapping
High School to answer the question: What was        of this song. “Nonstop” was another front-liner                      Scorpion:
the album of the year?                              of this album because it demonstrates Drake’s                        • Nice For What
  According to a schoolwide vote, the top three     rapping abilities once again. This is definitely                     • Nonstop
albums of the year included Astroworld by           a song for fans of rap and beat drops. “God’s                        • God’s Plan
Travis Scott, Scorpion by Drake, and Shawn          Plan” is another hit song by Drake, but was
Mendes by Shawn Mendes.                             made popular due to the music video’s almost
                                                    one-billion views. This song explained how to
                                                                                                                         Shawn Mendes:
  From Travis Scott’s Astroworld, the songs,
“Stargazing,” “Sicko Mode,” and “Carousel”          perform God’s work by giving back to the com-                        • Lost in Japan
were considered the best on the album, accord-      munity, which is what Drake did in the music                         • In My Blood
ing to their highest ranking on the Billboard       video, by giving money to families and schools                       • Nervous
Top 100. “Stargazing” delivered the out-of-this     in need. Not only is this a song you would want
world message that Scott was trying to convey       to hear on the radio, but it’s a song that has ties
in this album. This song has a mix of intense       to an uplifting message.
beats with consecutive bursts of sound that help      From Shawn Mendes’ album, Shawn Mendes,
transport the listeners to Astroworld. Rapping      the songs “Lost in Japan,” “In My Blood,”
was a change of pace considering the artist’s       and “Nervous” were considered the best on
roots in singing. “Sicko Mode” was arguably         the album, according to their highest rank-
a radio hit with the dynamic duo of Scott and       ing on the Billboard Top 100. “Lost in Japan”
rapper, Drake. Scott has completely different       is both a heartfelt and upbeat love song that
sounds in this song because Scott explores in-      we needed. The upbeat tone compliments
tense rap, while Drake subtly raps. A mixture       Mendes’ uniquely soft yet powerful voice. “In
of these two sounds creates a striking contrast     My Blood” is the perfect breakthrough song.
that is a must-listen. “Carousel” sounded like      Mendes conveys the way to take his insecuri-
Travis’ usual melodic sound. The song didn’t        ties and manifest them into his strengths, which
stand-out in a significant way, however, the out    makes the hit so relatable with a powerful mes-
-of-this-world sound was exactly what Travis        sage. “Nervous” allows listeners to see through                                  Photo Courtesy of Sarah Nolan
was trying to accomplish.                           Mendes’ point of view, which gives insight on           Travis Scott performing at the TD Garden in
  From Drake’s Scorpion, the songs, “Nice for       Mendes’ reserved personality that contrasts             December.
What,” “Nonstop,” and “God’s Plan” were con-        with one strikingly upbeat song.

      Cougar Growl
       Contributers                                 Women of Science Club
 Editors: Moesha Dubuche (‘19)                       By Kathryn Van Winkle
          Maddy Murphy (‘19)                         Cougar Growl Reporter
          Mr. Andrew Palmacci
                                                       The Women of Science Club is for stu-
 Bianca Burke (‘21)                                  dents who want to expand their knowledge
 Victoria Caggiano (‘22)                             of science disciplines and learn about sci-
 Thomas Cahill (‘22)                                 ence careers. The club had its first meeting
 Sabrina Claude (‘19)                                Monday, December 3rd, where each student
 Lily Fitzgerald (‘21)                               made their own bouncy ball and as a whole
 Arlene Guerra (‘19)                                 they came up with the club description and
 Connor Hamilton (‘20)                               goals. The club will meet on the 3rd WIN
 Samantha Klein (‘22)                                Wednesday and once a month after school                                            Photo Courtesy of Ms. Towle
 Andrew Metellus (‘19)                               on a Monday. New members are welcome.                Women of Science Club members used the chemical
 Grace O’Connell (‘22)                               Our activities include conducting experi-            reactions between a rubber material and water which
 Chris Paul (‘22)                                    ments, performing science-related activi-            bind the pieces to create a bouncy ball.
 Andra Preda (‘19)                                   ties, improving our analytical skills and
 Kathryn Van Winkle (‘21)                            maybe even welcoming guest speakers.
 Tianxian Xie (‘22)
 Liana Winans (‘22)
 Francesca Volante (‘19)
 Sannon Labuza (‘19)
 Nicole Ferrero (‘19)

 Advisor: Mrs. Heidi Gould

 Email:
 thecougargrowl@achs.net

                                                                        Page 8
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