Every year since third grade, the months of March and May have meant only one thing: MCAS. For two or three days in each month, students in classrooms across the state sit in silent rooms for hours and muddle their way through the thick, professional packets. Reading passages with questions to follow, the dreaded five-paragraph essay, and math diagrams to solve are the most prominent memories I have of these long spring afternoons. MCAS is not very difficult if the teacher has taught the curriculum well, and students are often given practice packets for months leading up to the big day. In fact, it is not uncommon for a few kids from each grade to achieve a perfect score on the English or Math tests. MCAS is long and painful, but very doable for most students.

Last year, change began to take place in the seemingly immovable system. My English class was selected to take part in the pilot test of the brand-new PARCC exam. There is no better surprise than getting told you got lucky enough to take part in even more standardized testing! In all seriousness though, taking this new test was interesting in that we got to see what the MCAS will become. The PARCC test is different in that it is entirely online, including all readings, drawings, diagrams and open responses. It took a while to get used to the new interface, but once I had the hang of it, the exam was basically just a computerized MCAS. I felt that the readings were more advanced and questions more analytical than MCAS, but overall, there were no major changes to the world of statewide tests.

So, which is better (or should I say, less painful), MCAS or PARCC? My answer: neither. MCAS is helpful in that it introduces students at a young age to the concept of standardized testing, and PARCC combines testing with the use of technology which cuts back on our environmental footprint (and makes my inner Prius driver very happy). But what do these tests really accomplish? Sure, they help track that students in Massachusetts are being taught what they should be under the curriculum, but there are other, more beneficial ways of accomplishing this. I feel that the standardized tests taken by elementary, middle andhigh school students should resemble the SAT or ACT. Rather than asking questions about what an author meant by certain phrases or how to find perimeter and area, the tests should focus on vocabulary, critical thinking, and logic to get students used to thinking in this way. These two tests in the long run are much more important to individual students since they play a large role in college admission. If the MCAS or PARCC were treated like an early version of the SAT for younger grades, students would be starting to think in terms of this test years before they even have to take it. Rather than having to spend hundreds on private tutors or classes to prepare for the SAT and ACT like many families do each year, the school system could provide this service all the while checking to see if schools are teaching what they need to. I’m not saying we should do away with standardized testing, I’m simply advocating that we reinvent it.

There were three aspects of the recent shooting at Paris magazine Charlie Hebdo that frightened me.  The first being the initial shock that arises from learning of a terrorist attack, the feeling of sadness and vulnerability.  The second wave of fear was the realization that this was not just another assault, but a direct attack on free speech, an ideal that embodies individuality, creativity, expression and knowledge.  The third wave was one I had experienced before, the fear of a ripple effect.  I worried that the incorrect presumption that this catastrophe was an act of the Islamic religion would only spawn more hate, creating the very thing that had spurred this event.

It is a sad but true fact that everyone our age has experienced this emotion, the slightly disoriented feeling that arises when you learn about a recent terrorist attack.  I can recall it clearly after the Boston Marathon bombings.  It is a upsetting feeling, realizing the lives lost and the many injured.  It is also rather confusing.  I think it is difficult to entirely comprehend how people can harbor so much hate for others. I mean, we hear of things like this relatively frequently and we understand that these kinds of things happen. Yet it is still difficult to cope with, when one deeply examines the fact that something drove these men to such hate, that they believed wholeheartedly that these journalists do not deserve to live anymore.  Accompanying this confusion is the immediate fear that terrorism is crawling closer to you and your family.  This feeling was painfully apparent at the Marathon, but I still feel it in over the Parish attack, thousands of miles away.  Although they were not attacking America, they were attacking journalists, the human representation of free speech and, as guaranteed by the First Amendment,  a value on which our culture was built.

I do not agree with the cartoons published by the magazine Charlie
Hebdo.  I would say that they portray Islam in a derogatory way.  This poor depiction is not exclusive to Islam; the magazine has insulted all walks of life including America and friendly European countries. However, no matter how much I dislike their content, their editors have the right to publish the material.  As much as we roll our eyes at a rude cartoon, a wild proclamation from Time magazine, or an image of Dzhokhar Tsarnaev on the cover of Rolling Stone, these are byproducts of freedom of speech.  Although we can fiercely disagree with some things that are published (or most things), without freedom of speech we would lose the many world-changing articles, poems, songs, books and speeches that have been created.  We would feel alone in our selves, losing the song that captures our exact emotion.  We would lack inspiration, never hearing that speech that urges us to do more. Without the freedom to express ourselves we would not form different opinions, we would not challenge opposition, we would not overthrow tyranny, we would not fight for what we believe in, and we would not have the ability to profess our truth.  To take away freedom of speech would be to smother the passion that is inside every one of us.  The attack on Charlie was an attack on freedom of speech and the only way to encounter this is to fight back.  I do not mean fight back in the traditional sense, but to use the gift of speech to fight against terror and encourage hope.

As I had mentioned, the last wave of fear that came over me was the fear of a ripple effect.  I will use Boston as an example again.  I hated coming back to school after this catastrophe because I hated listening to my classmates talk about Muslims.  It was not all my classmates, but enough to trouble me.  I heard derogatory things said about the people who practice this religion. I am sure this was just people speaking from a hurt place, saying things that they did not really mean, but this is only a small example of a terrible phenomenon.  If allowed to fester, this hate, this feeling of being attacked or harmed, can turn into something so much more. Although the act was deranged, the terrorists who attacked Charlie believed they were retaliating against the phallic-faced image of Mohammed that the magazine released.  I fear that this hate will continue, that our society will have caught this feeling and turn it around on the people who practice the same religion as these terrorists.  This was not the crime of an entire faith, but the crime of some sad, sick men. In fact, many devout Muslims condemned the attack and any terrorists who use violence in the name of their faith.

Ridding oneself of hate is not an easy task, but it is something that we all must strive for.  As difficult as it is, we cannot allow the fear of this terrorism to affect us any further. In order to combat it, we must carry on, professing love in all ways possible and hoping that it can spread.

A common theme with all of our latest articles is the fact that 2015 is a new year with new opportunities. One of those opportunities is to evaluate where exactly you stand in life. Is it where you want to be? Or are you perfectly happy and content with the person you are right now? Most people people I know would answer “yes” to the first question and are always striving toward the elusive goal of self improvement. What better way to start off 2015 than by fully taking advantage of all of the opportunities that HHS has to offer?

You have four years here and at a basic level you have two options on how to spend them. One option is to choose to whine and complain about everything that doesn’t go your way. This option is exercised whenever you hear people grumble and grouse over doing work in class. I know far too many people who take that option and it’s honestly quite depressing for me to hear.

The other option (and the most favorable one) is to realize that you have the opportunity to become a better person and improve yourself during your years as a high school student. You are stuck here for about 40 hours a week so you might as well make the best of it. The best way to meet that goal is to become involved in HHS wealth of extracurricular clubs and activities. Most people I know are involved in at least a couple of them.

But joining an activity just to list it on your college applications isn’t enough.  I would encourage everyone to take the next step and ask themselves why they involved in the activities that they have chosen. Too many people fall into the trap of selecting activities due to the perceived value of them to college admissions boards. No matter how many times it has been debunked, the misconception remains that you have to be involved in everything in order to have a shot at college. Or even worse, that you have to be in the right clubs. This leads to an unfortunate issue of people attending meetings but not really being too engaged. In such a case, both the person and the club in question are being hurt. The person is wasting their time and the club finds itself starved of talent or energy and it ends up dying. That is an end result that, as a senior, I have seen far too often and heard earfuls about from plenty of other people. It is a situation we as a student body should resolve to prevent in 2015 and going forward.

I really encourage everyone to look at their extracurriculars and ask themselves whether it is the best use of their talents. To continue doing an activity you have no passion for is doing a disservice to everyone involved. Don’t overextend yourself to create a grand resume of activities. Find something you’re really interested in and commit to it.

That being said, News Club is always looking for new writers and we encourage anyone to come our meetings in the Library on Wednesdays. If nothing else, you’ll see me there ;).

Aahhh, winter break: a time to gather with family, exchange tokens of love and affection (or the gift card you think your second-cousin might be least likely to trade for cash at the CoinStar machine), stay up late and sleep in! Luckily, I did all of those things during our recent respite, but also something else that makes me giddy. I got to read!

Now, I know, some of you might think I’m a nerd because I like to read. Or you might believe I do it because it’s my job. But honestly I’ve been a reader for as long as I can remember mainly because I like to escape. While growing up, losing myself in a book was the easiest way I knew to escape my siblings’ quarrels, my parents’ woes and the general angst that accompanies adolescence. Today, I read to forget about the bills that need to be paid or the stress at work (stress,  you may ask? Only in a theoretical sense, of course. I could never be stressed here!).

Teachers often talk about how reading expands your mind, exercises your brain and exposes you to new points of view. I believe all of that is true. Reading improves your vocabulary, makes you a better writer, and allows you to experience things vicariously that you could not in real life (that killer avalanche on Everest? the boy wizard’s battle against the evil bad guy? the sappy romance of a teenager with cancer? been there, done that, from the safety of my couch) But I also feel that reading is just fun — as much fun as going to a movie or whiling the hours away playing Trivia Crack.

Groucho Marx (Google him) once said “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend.” (Wisely he added, “Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.”) Too many students here at HHS tell me they don’t like to read or, more simply, they just don’t read. It breaks my heart. They’re missing out on so much . . .  academically, emotionally, spiritually. I’m serious! Not reading is as detrimental to your being as staying home alone every Friday night watching Wheel of Fortune, smashing your fingers in the car door or eating too many Big Macs.

Sure, it takes a little work (although in my opinion not as much as figuring out how to maneuver the WiiFit obstacle course so you don’t repeatedly get knocked in the head). And yes, even I have times when I’d rather watch Tosh.0 or countless repeats of The Big Bang Theory. But the benefits of reading are worth it. New experiences, good stories, a chance to escape whatever ails you in real life. It doesn’t matter if you choose War and Peace (again, Google it) or Entertainment Weekly online, if you settle down with a thick hardcover or a hundred-page paperback, just read. Vow to read one online article a day, or one book a month. Read in directed study or after you snarf down lunch or while you’re waiting for practice. Read!

If you don’t, you’ll make this baby panda cry.