The WarriorNiskayuna High School May 23, 2018 Volume 44, Issue 14

a student-run publication since 1974

Inside this issue...Met gala high-lights,page 6

Warrior Track Classic,page 7

Why you should take stats instead of calc,page 5

by MJ LeeNews

The high school’s New Caf trans-formed from a regular old cafeteria into a candlelit coffeehouse on May 18. Once again, Creative Writing Club had hosted Java Jive—a calm night to show off student talent that doubles as a fundraiser. All proceeds from the entry fee and the bake sale went to charity, as in previous years. This year, the club raised money for Bethesda House of Schenectady, Inc., an interfaith ministry that provides social services for people who are homeless and poor.

The event featured a great many students who performed works of poetry and acoustic music, some of which they had written themselves. Works ranged from old favorites such as Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely” to Broadway tunes such as “For Good” from Wicked. The emcees, senior Cristina Cavaleri and senior Maddie McCarthy pushed the night forward with a script chock full of puns. It wouldn’t have been Java Jive without the witty introductions, of course.

Although Java Jive may be some-thing that seems to appeal only to a certain type of person, it is an event that everyone can love. “It’s a really supportive atmosphere,” says senior Johanne Friedman, “It’s really fun to see your classmates expressing themselves and doing something that they enjoy.”

Java Jive is the perfect event for students to share their creativity with their peers. “A lot of passionate kids

J a v a J i v e i s c o m i n g s o o nget up there,” says junior Sam San-born, “They aren’t necessarily super outgoing or performance-inclined, and they read poetry or sing a song for an audience when that might not be something they’ve done in the past. They’re able to do it because they know the other kids in the audience are going to support them, and be-cause the art is what they care about.” Java Jive allows students to expand their comfort zone and explore an interest they don’t necessarily get to explore during school. “I love seeing those performances,” adds Sanborn, “Even if those kids are nervous, you can tell they really get it, and you can sort of see them come out of their shell. When someone gets up on the Java Jive stage, they might very well take your initial impression of them and just flip it on its head.”

The New Caf-turned-coffeehouse was a haven of sorts, a break from the fast paced nature of fourth quarter, offering a laid back, slower pulse to fall back into. Even teachers found themselves enjoying the show, watching their very own students open up in a completely new light. With everything going on at the end of the year, it’s important to simply break away from the daily grind for a moment. It’s good to connect with others on a deeper, more emotional level than that offered by the monoto-nous academic setting.

Students with any sort of interest in poetry or acoustic music should definitely consider performing at Java Jive in coming years. It is an

open opportunity for all those who wish to share their talents with others,

Photo Credit / Shivani Singh JAVA JIVE 2018: Junior, Caitlin Williams performed at last year’s Java Jive.

and they will find themselves in the arms of a welcoming crowd.

2 The WarriorNews May 23, 2018

By IsaBelle PIPa

News

This past April the annual Olym-

pics of the Visual Arts competition

was held at the Saratoga Springs

City Center, where artists from all

areas of New York bustled into the

building, carrying with them their

“completed tasks” of all shapes and

sizes. An event that started 36 years

ago and is still run today by the New

York State Art Teachers Association,

OVA brings together handfuls of

students from districts up in the

Adirondacks to those down near

Long Island in order to showcase

their artistic problem-solving skills

and learn from other young artists

around them.

A new set of tasks are posed

every fall, with categories such as

photography, illustration, fashion, ar-

chitecture, or even typography. Each

level—elementary, middle school

and high school—are limited to one

group for each category. As usual,

there were several participants from

Niskayuna High School, who made

projects answering the painting and

illustration tasks.

Of the painting group there were

juniors Nina Chu, Isabelle Pipa, Meg

Obispo, Sarah Davenport, Elizabeth

Seitz, Kristine Lim, and freshman

Catie Lasek. The painting task was to

create a piece that showed extensive

research into the style of steampunk,

combined with the style of surreal-

ism. The final piece showed influence from surrealist artists, such as Frida

Kahlo, and depicted a mother nature

figure falling into a dark pit ringed with industrialized cities. The Niska-

yuna High School illustration group

was formed by juniors JJ Eldaye, Cara

Duffy, Damien Hildreth, Caroline Jazewitz and, sophomore Cayde

Rackliffe. Their party answered the task of researching and illustrating

idioms and figures of speech by creating a giant tent that stood in

the center of one

of the many large

rooms at the City

Center, and was

filled with digi-tally drawn de-

pictions of well

known figures

of speech, such

as “seeing eye

to eye,” which

was physically

represented by

a giant pair of

eyes. Everything

within the tent

could only be

observed using

a blacklight, and

the massive con-

traption drew in

many visitors.

T h e N i s -

kayuna High

School Illustra-

tion group won

second place

for their proj-

ect, along with

other Niskayuna

School District

g r o u p s w h o

placed in lower

levels. Every project is graded in

parts—starting with the actual piece,

and then a portfolio, consisting of

sketches and research that reveal

more about each group or artist’s

creative process. Finally, on the day

of the event, the entire Olympics of

the Visual Arts body of competitors

are given a spontaneous task to

complete in a little over an hour.

During this time, each group gets

a limited variety of supplies and a

small floor space to work with, along with a problem to solve in the form

of a paper model or diagram. This

year’s spontaneous task was to create

a more energy-efficient alternative to the “Electric Company” square on

a Monopoly board. A wind turbine

was a popular design, along with

water-powered energy systems and

solar panels—all made from paper,

tape, and crayons. This task is graded

along with the final piece and the portfolio and winners are announced

at the end of the event.

“It was fun working with so many

other people on one final piece,” said Nina Chu, captain of the Niskayuna

High School Painting group. “OVA

is an eye opening experience to see

what high schoolers are capable of

when creating art.”

Olympic of the Visual Arts is a hit

Photo Credit / Isabelle PipaARTISTIC EXPRESSION: Juniors pose in front of their artwork at OVA competition.

3May 23, 2 018The Warrior News

by James Kemp

News

Niska-Day 37, Magic in the air, is set to be the best one yet, with fun activities for the whole community. In addition to the parade and other the events throughout the day, Ni-skayuna High School students and organizations are set to make a big impact this year. Multiple clubs will have booths at the fairgrounds and some students will participate in the parade.

As they do every year, the Niska-yuna High School German Club will return for the festivities. Their garden gnome ring toss game was a huge success at last year’s Niska-Day and this year will be no exception. Club advisor Joseph Carosella’s German

themed attire and his festive spirit attract many onlookers. This booth is perfect for elementary school aged children, since it teaches them Ger-man and if they win, they can earn themselves some candy. In addition to learning German, children can also learn about STEM at the Robotics Club table. The Club will have con-trollable robots that can play soccer. Club member Lillian Hong said that she “hopes that the game will get kids interested in STEM and will make them want to join the club when the ygo to high school.” Recycling Club will also be returning for this year’s event, where they’ll sell reusable water bottles and straws, and will empty recycling bins around the grounds throughout the day. This

is a great way to support a Nisky club and help out the environment. The club will also help clean up the grounds after the event on Sunday, which further shows the positive message they will bring to the fair. Horticulture Club will be selling plants, which would make a great gift for anyone and will help support a High School club.

Relay for Life will be present to encourage people to sign up for their great event. Make sure to sign up for the event and support your friends when Relay for Life happens on Saturday, June 2.

The highlight of the event this year will be the Live Expression concert. This year The Grid will play the event and their performance is not to be

missed. The Grid are a indie rock band entirely composed of freshman. The band’s freshman year together will be one to look fondly on, as they have played every Live Expression concert and will play Band-Aid and Niska-Day. Band-Aid will be on May 25, and it is not an event to be missed. It will be the club’s biggest concert of the year with performances from some of the high school’s most talented musicians. Band-Aid might also feature a performance by up and coming band, Sunrise Terrace.

Whether you like to sample the many food vendors, explore the business tent, or just hang out with your friends on the soccer fields, Niska-Day 37 will have it all. Most importantly, come out and support the many high school clubs present!

N i s k a - D a y 3 7 w i l l e x c i t e

Photo Credit / Jackie YaoHELPING OUT: Relay for Life members collect donations and hold sign ups at last year’s Niska-Day

Stats is more useful than calc 4 The WarriorOpinion May 23, 2018

by ben yaoopinion

In this day and age, there are massive amounts of data that flow around the world -- and US stu-dents aren’t prepared to handle it.

Having a workforce that can make sense of these large quantities of nu-merical data is extremely important as the effective use of big data will increasingly determine whether com-panies—and the US—can compete.

But our education and training programs haven’t adapted to develop the skills big data demands. We are all shuttled along a familiar path in mathematics: first stop algebra, then geometry and trigonometry, and fi-nally, the ultimate destination, calcu-lus. This traditional curriculum seems increasingly outdated in a world that is flooded with noisy and voluminous data. The majority of students need to be immersed in the more practi-cal discipline of statistics, which has greater relevance for the jobs being generated by a digital economy.

Don’t believe me? Consider the teams of medical researchers run-ning clinical trials or analyzing the outcomes of patients after a therapy has been made widely available: they have to select the parameters to study, assess the results, and draw the right conclusions about a drug’s

effectiveness and safety. Online advertisers trying to micro-target consumers must be able to detect patterns in the massive amount of clickstream data they gather from the Web. Risk managers on Wall Street, retail buyers choosing this season’s merchandise, environmental scien-tists, sports analysts, and military strategists all rely on the ability to syn-thesize data and predict outcomes.

The key to making sense of all this data is statistics. At leading companies, important decisions are increasingly made by conducting experiments that draw on the core skills of statisticians. Rather than relying on gut instinct, businesses now find ways to test hypotheses and use statistical methods to ana-lyze the results, applying the classic scientific method to decision-making.

Big data promises big things—but only if we have people in place who know what to do with it. The United States has led the big data revolution but faces a shortage of the analytical and managerial talent needed to maximize its potential. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that the US will face a shortage of up to 190,000 professionals with advanced training in statistics and machine learning (“data scientists”) within six years. But more broadly, another 1.5 million

executives and analysts will need enough proficiency in statistics to work closely with data scientists to design experiments and make better decisions. As Google’s chief econo-mist Hal Varian put it, “the sexy job in the next 10 years will be statisticians.”

Cultivating those skills can start in the classroom. This year, some 361,000 US high school seniors took the Advanced Placement (AP) cal-culus exam, while fewer than half that number opted to take the AP statistics exam. There’s no question that calculus offers valuable training in how to think and apply logic, and many of its concepts, such as rates of change, are certainly important.

But the actual use of calculus in the workforce is largely limited to fields such as physics and some engineering disciplines. By contrast, many of the fundamentals of statistics—condi-tional probabilities, sampling bias, and the distinction between correla-tion and causation, for example—are broadly useful to people as they make decisions in their roles as profes-sionals, citizens, and even parents.

Some students hit a wall when they come up against calculus, finding it too abstract. Teachers can engage stu-dents in a tangible way with statistics, challenging them with real-world ex-ercises like finding errors in reported

studies, designing experiments to test hypotheses in the real world, or analyzing real data from the Web to determine what factors drive online behavior. Generating this kind of excitement earlier in a student’s high school years might even build a stron-ger lifelong affinity for mathematics.

MBA programs are already placing greater emphasis on quantitative data analysis in their core curricula, recog-nizing that no business leader can af-ford to lack the ability to analyze data.

In fact, no informed citizen should be without these skills in the age of big data. This particular kind of quantitative literacy serves individu-als beyond the workplace, whether they’re evaluating a politician’s claims about the economy or decid-ing whether home prices are likely to rise. During the 2012 campaign season, for example, bloggers like Nate Silver and Sam Wang proved that cogent use of statistics was far more accurate in predicting election outcomes than analysis from pundits.

In a world where uncertainty is the only certainty, there is a grow-ing need to transform massive troves of data into information that produces better decision-making. But if schools cling to their old curriculum, the US economy may come up short. Just do the math.

EDITORIAL POLICIES

Letters to the editor are welcome from all members of the school community, and can be delivered toWarrior staff or sent via email to: thewarrioropinion@gmail.com. The War-rior reserves the right to edit letters for grammar, length,

and content.

Signed opinion articles express the opinions of their cre-ators. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus of the paper’s editorial board, consisting of the Opinion section

and the Editor-in-Chief.

The Warrior

Niskayuna High School, 1626 Balltown Road, Niskayuna, NY, 12309

For a one-year subscription to The Warrior, please send a check for $25.00 to: The Warrior, c/o Niskayuna High School, 1626 Balltown Road, Niskayuna, NY 12309.

Opinion (Pages 4-5):MJ Lee, EditorBen Yao, EditorPaul Tan, Asst.

Entertainment (Page 6):Ambreen Aslam, EditorLauren Moran, Asst.

Sports (Pages 7-8):Amelia Kokernak, EditorCharlotte Kokernak, EditorLisa Dong, Asst.

Magazine (Pages 9-12)Suzie Davis, EditorRebecca Cropsey, EditorAryia Dattamajumdar, EditorMark Lipkin, Asst.

Adviser: James Edgar

Editors-in-Chief:Elisabeth ChillrudElaine Lipkin

News (Pages 1-3):Lillian Hong, EditorCecelia Cain, EditorJames Kemp, EditorShivani Singh, Asst.

if schools cling to their old curriculum, the us economy may

come up short.

at leading companies, important decisions are increasingly being

made by statisticians

5May 23, 2018The Warrior Opinion

ALL OPINIONS expressed on the op-ed pag-es represent the individual viewpoints of their authors. The content does not necessarily repre-sent the views of The Warrior, the high school, the school district, or the Board of Education.

by Dayeon Sonopinion

At Niskayuna, students are re-

quired to read many novels for the

English classes. From works by

Shakespeare to Homer, each year

we read a great variety of books.

This is to widen genres of literature

that we students are exposed to,

showing us the different styles of writing used by many authors from

several time periods. During fresh-

man year, honors English students

read a total of seven books just for

class. While it is a positive experience

for students to read important novels

in literature in order to analyze and

understand the writing, simply read-

ing popular classics throughout the

year may not be the best for students.

The English curriculum would

be more effective if we read a few classics every year and didn’t center

it entirely around these few classics.

Since students only focus on reading,

there should be more variety to Eng-

lish classes. Instead of assigning book

upon book, there should be many dif-

Nisky should reform English classferent units. For ex-

ample, writing units

scattered throughout

the year would be

more helpful in im-

proving students’

writing skills—and

therefore improv-

ing their overall

English skills—than

discussing the as-

signed chapters all

year. This isn’t to

say that all reading

should be gotten rid

of in English classes;

it is still an impor-

tant and helpful skill

for students to learn

how to analyze and

understand difficult readings. The issue is

that by only focusing on this all year,

students may lose focus in English

class because of the monotonous

nature of these classes and the lack

of variety on what is being taught.

Insteading of having reading after

The english curriculum would be more effecTive if we read a few classics

every year and didn’T cenTer iT enTirely around

These few classics.

Only fOcusing On the readings fOr

hOmewOrk and tests wOuld be tOO stress-

ful, especially be-cause the readings

are nOt exactly easy and take a signifi-

cant amOunt Of time tO dO

reading all year, having different units between each book would

provide somewhat of a “break” from

reading. Only focusing on the read-

ings for homework and tests would

be too stressful, especially because

the readings are not exactly easy and

take a significant amount of time to do. Choice reading is required for

students outside of school, but having

readings almost every night prevents

many students from reading books

that they would really enjoy since

there is so much required reading

for homework already, leaving

students in a massive time crunch.

Having a new unit after every book

would allow students to focus on

one book at a time and encourage

them to fill the open reading time with books they may truly enjoy.

Constantly reading could take

away the attention of English class

from some students, since some of the

books that are read in school are not

too “entertaining” for most, and there

are just so many to be read over the

course of one school year. Whether

or not students like the books cannot

be controlled, but changing the way

English classes are taught could help

students find what they like, instead of making

them feel “trapped”

in constant reading all

year. Reading is not

the only thing that is

important to English.

Writing, grammar, and vocabulary

are a few of many skills also relevant

to the English education of high

school students. There are several

writing classes available for students

in the later years of high school,

but training underclassmen to be

better writers is just as important,

or maybe even more important

than reading classic novels for their

futures. In honors classes, the class

revolves more around literature

than writing. There are writing as-

signments for outside of class, but

learning different styles of writing and techniques would be more

helpful for students in the long run.

Reading is important, but there

should be a larger variety of topics

taught to balance out the skills that

students learn in English class that

will be necessary and useful as they

advance in their education. This

way, English class would be more

enjoyable to students, as they are

exposed to many different aspects of English and are therefore offered the opportunity to seek what they

truly like. It would be a more suc-

cessful way teaching and preparing

students for what is ahead of them.

6 Entertainment The Warrior

weapon used to kill them is carefully

placed on a red cloth which was a

symbol of how guns are more valued

than people. All the symbolism in

his video received praise from civil

rights and gun violence activists.

By AmBreen AslAm

entertAinment

On May 5, Donald Glover, known

as Childish Gambino in the music

world, dropped his new song This is America which has received a lot

of attention by not only his fans but

also political activists. According to

YouTube, it was one of the biggest

musical debuts in the year acquiring

more than 13 million views in the first 24 hours. The lyrics of the song, This is America, don’t catch you slippin’

up” hold a much heavier weight

with the music video which seems

to make statements about being

black in America and gun violence

in general. Throughout the video,

Glover holds a stance similar to that

of the Jim Crow caricature. He also

uses an automatic weapon to shoot

down the background singing church

choir which has been interpreted as

a reflection of the 2015 Charleston church shooting. In the video, as

people are shot they are dragged

recklessly out of viewpoint while the

May 23, 2018

Gambino makes a s ta tement

By lAuren morAn

entertAinment

May 7th marked one of fash-

ion’s biggest nights, the Met Gala.

The Met Gala, formally called the

Costume Institute Gala, and also

known as the Met Ball, is an annual

fundraising gala for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's

Costume Institute in New York City.

Every year there is a theme for the

collections and the designers and

this year the theme was “Heavenly

Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic

Imagination.” Put together by Anna

Wintour, the editor in chief of Vogue,

this year’s theme is the most contro-

versial yet. The attendees of the gala

are a mixture of celebrities, models,

and philanthropists. Some of the

celebrities that attended were Cardi

B, Zendaya, Blake Lively, Jennifer Lo-

pez, Gigi Hadid, Amanda Seyfried,

and Rihanna. All the celebrities that

attend have custom-made dresses by

the biggest names in fashion, making

this event a night to remember.

Cardi B’s outfit was a work of art made by the brilliant Jeremy Scott

of Moschino. Her dress was a gold

colored, long fitted gown encrusted with pearls, diamonds, and jewels.

Along with her outfit she wore a headpiece made of the same fabric

and jewels from her dress. To finish the whole look, she wore a dramatic

pearl collar with long pearl earrings.

With this dress taking four weeks to

make, it was not only an outfit, but also a work of art.

Blake Lively was considered

one of the best dressed by many

reporters wearing a custom Versace

gown—complete with an embroi-

dered bodice that took more than

600 hours to make—and $2 million of Lorraine Schwartz jewelry. She also

carried a custom bejeweled clutch bag

designed by Judith Leiber that paid

tribute to her family in a very subtle

way. The clutch was embellished

with the initials of Lively’s family,

in addition to the “Reynolds” family

surname making this piece not only

custom, but personal.

Another person who stunned

everyone was Rihanna. The singer

stepped out in her opulent papal

mitre (a ceremonial headdress of

bishops) and a jeweled strapless

mini dress with a matching collared

robe by Maison Margiela. The dress,

according to Rihanna, was insanely

heavy but due to the exquisite work

by Margiela, she couldn’t not wear

it. With this dress, Rihanna did an

excellent job hosting the event with

Anna Wintour, making this gala one

for the record books.

This year’s Met Gala was definitely historic, with exquisite masterpieces

made by famous designers and

smooth organization by Anna Win-

tour and Vogue. To see more dresses

and who they were made by, you can

check out Vogue and E! News!Photo Credit/Getty Images

Met Gala meets “Heavenly Bodies”

However, some of his audience

claimed that the music video made

them uncomfortable, which goes to

show how hesitant we are to discuss

pressing issues in our country. All

the powerful statements that Glover

makes in his song and video have

brought the topic of racism and gun

violence into mainstream pop culture

and have started a whole new wave

of conversation about what best

encapsulates American society today.

Photo Credit/Stocky ImagesJim Crown Cartoon pictured above

Blake Lively makes an entrance

7May 23, 2018The Warrior Sports

Track lights it up at the Warrior ClassicBy AmeliA KoKernAK & Anthony ComAnzo

SportS

For many sports, it seems like the season is beginning to wind down with the approach of finals and the last day of school. But for the track team, the championship season is only just beginning. Since early March, dozens of athletes from seventh grade through seniors have been working together to strengthen each other mentally and physically in preparation for the conclusion of the season, the Sectional Champi-onships. After coming off of such a strong indoor season this year, which included a third consecutive sectional championship on the girls’ side, it is no surprise that Head Coach Jason DeRocco and the rest of the coaching staff hope to bring home a top two team finish at this year ’s sectional championships.

Earlier in the season, the team hosted the Medley Relay Challenge and the Warrior Track Classic on home turf on April 20 and 21. The

two meets are a huge undertaking for the coaching staff, athletes and volunteers every year, especially with the competition growing in popular-ity from year to year. Not only does it attract many of the local teams from Section 2, but many teams from other parts of New York State as well as Massachusetts and Vermont travel to compete here every year. This year, over 20 teams attended the Warrior Track Classic, which was one of the largest recorded numbers in the meet’s history. The meets also gener-ated thousands of dollars to donate to the Coaches vs. Cancer fundraiser.

As far as the the team goes, there was no shortage of good perfor-mances on both Friday and Saturday. At the Medley Relay Challenge, the Niskayuna girls 1600m Sprint Medley Relay team of sophomore Zoe Harris, juniors Alexa Smith and Kristina Koes, and senior Amelia Kokernak broke the meet record in a total time of 4:18.87. The Nisky girls 1000m Swedish Relay team of Harris, Koes, Smith and senior

Megan Daviero also broke the meet record in a team time of 2:25.73. The girls Distance Medley Relay team of sophomore Maddie Beltramo, senior Sydney Smith, and juniors Hailey Walthers and Maddy Hesler took the championship title in a time of 12:59 followed closely by their teammates seniors Samantha Padula, Victoria Padula, sophomore Allison Malatesta and eighth grader Orit Shiang who finished second in a time of 13:43. The girls’ team placed first overall out of all the teams in attendance at the Medley Relay Challenge.

On the boys’ side, the 800m Sprint Medley Relay team of sophomore Christian Ugali, juniors Jon Romano and Keenan Duggal, and senior Northern McCullough placed fourth in their race in a time of 1:48.60. The 1600m Sprint Medley Relay of sophomore Tom Ragone, junior Nick Reyes, and seniors Nick Bowman and Neil Horne also took home fourth place in a competitive field with a time of 3:58.17. The boys’ Distance Medley Relay team of seniors Joe Quinn, Dominick Favata, Colin Ross

and junior James Nuqui placed third in a fast team time of 11:00. They were followed by their teammates, junior Marty Dolan, eighth grader Julian Franjieh, and seniors Paul Pacheco and Anthony Comanzo, who finished sixth in a time of 11:44.

On Saturday, the team competed again in the Warrior Track Classic against many other teams. Individu-ally, Koes placed fourth in the 200m dash blazing in at 26.83 seconds. Kokernak, in a hard fought 800m race going against the wind, just barely missed first with a time of 2:19.61. In the 1500m, Kokernak also took third with a time of 4:49.21. The team had an impressive showing in the boys 1500m as well. Senior Donnovan Tucker and Ragone finished second and third at 4:12.91 and 4:20.01, respectively. In the girls 3000m, Hesler placed first in 10:35.78, and for the boys team, senior Colin Ross placed third in 9:08.94. In the girls 400m hurdles, freshman Ma

continued on page 8[Warrior ClassiC]

Photo Credit / Andres RojoBOYS TRACK: Jett Minkin gets off the start line hard after receving the baton from his team-

mate in the 1600m Sprint Medley Relay at the Medley Relay Challenge.

Photo Credit / Andres RojoWARRIOR CLASSIC: Sophomore Maddie Beltramo sprints down the home stretch of her

relay at the Medley Relay Challenge.

The WarriorSports8

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May 23, 2018

Girls Softball at BatBy Lisa Dong

sports

As the Niskayuna Girls Varsity Softball team is more than halfway into their season, the girls are still training hard and improving their skills at practice. Reflecting upon what is going on, I talked with junior Sydney Tower about this season.

Lisa Dong: As you are a veteran on the var-sity team, what did you think about last season?

Sydney Towe: Last season was pretty rough. We didn’t win as many games as we would’ve liked to and the competitive atmosphere was missing.

LD: What are your thoughts about this year’s season?

ST: This year we have a new coach, Steve Schul-tze and he has been a huge help with everything. We have done much better this year but there is still a lot of room for improvement and a lot of work to do. One can see that with every game, our team has shown progress and improvement.

LD: Is there anyone on that team that will be leaving this year?

ST: Yes, we have three seniors, Caroline Kelly, Kate Christie and Hannah Duffy. All of them will be missed and are major contributors to the team on the field and as dedicated friends and teammates.

LD: With these seniors leaving, are there any new people that have joined the varsity team?

ST: This year, we have four additional people join but the team is pretty much made up of the same people as it was last year.

LD: Are there any games that stand out this season?ST: Our game against Averill Park stood out

because even though we lost 3 to1, as a team we were very competitive and gave it our all against a very strong team who had won the state cham-pionships a few seasons ago. That was a defining moment in our season and it just made us more determined to improve and keep working harder.

LD: What is the best part about playing on this team?

ST: Definitely the people and just how we get to go through all of the hard work, training, and ex-periences together. That’s what really bonds us to-gether and that’s what leds to the unity and commit-ment this team is all about. A lot of girls on here want to continue doing this sport in college, and playing on this team is helping a lot of us achieve that goal.

As one can see, this a team that are not afraid to back down from anything. These girls will continue to train and can’t wait to see how the end of their season will turn out for them. Con-gratulations to the senior veterans who will be graduating and good luck to the team at their next game and for rest of the season. Go Warriors!

Wa r r i o r C l a s s i c continued from page 7

[TRACK]

-rissa Wise placed fourth in 1:10.16. The girls 4x100m relay of Harris, Koes, freshman Marissa Wise and junior Grace Minkin placed fourth with a time of 51.30 seconds. Harris and Koes returned in the 4x400m relay with Hailey Walthers and Alexa Smith and placed fourth once again in 4:16.48. Both 4x800m relays on the boys and girls side took first. Hesler, senior Victoria Padula, Walthers, and S.

Photo Credit / Andres RojoBOYS 1500: Sophomore Tom Ragone finishes strong in the boys 1500m at the Warrior Track Classic

Smith ran a team time of 9:41.84 and seniors Ross, Joe Quinn, Dominick Favata, and junior Marty Dolan ran 8:10.84. In terms of field events, junior Ainsley Filkins and Koes both placed fourth in pole vaulting and long jump, respectively. Filkins reached 8-00.00ft and Koes jumped 16-01.50ft.

While the team had an impressive showing at home, they hope to move on to bigger competi-tions later in the season, like the NYS and National Championships, held in June. Best of luck to the Silver Warriors in the remainder of the season!

Photo Credit / Andres RojoFAST TIMES: Lily O’Connell carrying the baton to her teammates.

Results:

Boys BaseballWin against Sche-nectady on 5/9 (4-0)Lose against Sara-toga Springs on 5/11 (11-5)

Boys LacrosseLose against St. Anthony’s 5/5 (18-5)Win against Greenwich on 5/11 (17-10)

Girls LacrosseWin against Beth-lehem Central on 5/3 (8-7)Lose against Sara-toga Springs on 5/11 (10-9)

Outdoor Track At the Shen Invy, Marissa Wise break the freshman record in the 400m hurdles at 68.69. Abigail Spiers takes down her own school record in the 3000m in 9:51. The girls SMR of Zoe Harris, Kristina Koes, Me-gan Daviero and Amelia Kokernak take first in 4:09, qualifying for the National Champi-onships.

Editors:Suzie DavisRebecca CropseyMark LipkinAryia Dattamajumdar

Volume 44, Issue 14 May 23, 2018SilverThe Warrior Magazine

Looking Back

Warrior Photo Credit / Skylar Litz

The Warrior Magazine May 23, 2018Silver

A great way to star tby Emma Anderson

Magazine

Last year at this time, my friends and I were getting ex-cited to leave middle school and move on. We were taken on tours of the high school by the upperclassmen and, amidst our excitement, we felt slightly overwhelmed by the new environment and the size of the school.

As I reflect on this past year, visiting the high school last year feels so far in the past. The school no longer feels overwhelming, and the friends I toured the school with last year have come and gone, as I have met so many new people since Sep-tember. I’m sure most of my classmates would agree that freshman year has been very memorable. From sports to clubs to new classes and a new environment, it has been

a great start to high school.In the fall, I walked through

the front doors and eagerly attended classes that I had selected for myself for the first time. Those first weeks I could not believe how big this school was, but now it does not see so daunting. My afternoons were filled by soccer practices and my team concluded our season unde-feated. Through NGS I found a great community of athletes and met so many new friends. With the start of winter, the holidays came and I could finally enjoy a week without school. Upon coming back in the new year, I attended a Model UN conference at the University of Pennsylvania and was fortunate enough to meet other students from around the world. In Febru-ary, midterms came, and I think everyone started to feel the fatigue of classes and

the anticipation for summer. We hoped for spring as March came, but I still heard daily complaints of the lingering snow. In fact, my family spent Easter skiing in Vermont. As spring continued, I par-ticipated the walkout for gun control with several hundred other students, which was one of many highlights of this year and left me with a feeling of empowerment.

This month, as the sun finally shines, I am studying for finals and the end of the year is in sight. As excited as I am for summer, I cannot help but think about Sep-tember when we will start over again. My classes will become more difficult and I will once again have home-work and responsibilities. It has been a year of change and new experiences, but I feel well prepared for next year and cannot wait to start.

Photo Credit / Kelly Anderson

PLAYING: Emma said “My afternoons were filled by soccer practices and my team concluded our season undefeated.”

Dear Readers,

As our year comes to a close we hope you’ve en-joyed your time at Nisky and your time reading The Warrior! See you next year!

Love, The Editors

The Warrior Magazine May 23, 2018Silver

Why does sophomore year matter?by William Codd

MagazineOne could say that sophomore year

isn’t very important to your life,

that your freshman, junior and se-

nior years are way more crucial, and

I would have to agree. Sophomore

year is weird, and very ill-defined. What purpose can one find in a year that seems so apparently pointless?

Freshman year is the start of a new

journey, and you learn a lot of new

things. One example is if there’s a

large group of people huddled in the

bathroom, you should leave. Junior year

is when things start getting real: you

have prom, you’re looking at colleges,

you have your SAT, you will probably get

your driver’s license, you might start a

job… the list goes on. And senior year is

the end point, where your high school

journey comes to an end, and you start

a new chapter. But if you were to ask

me what important life-step you make

when you are fifteen, I honestly couldn’t tell you. I mean literally the definition of sophomoric is “pretentious or juve-

nile,” so I feel like whoever named this

grade-level just wanted the opportunity

to call fifteen-year olds stupid. However, I would have to agree with their assump-

tions of sophomores. Every sophomore I

know is extremely pretentious and will

never look at themselves before judging

others (besides myself, of course). You

also have your extremely juvenile kids

who still laugh at stupid jokes, like “your

mama’s so stupid, she tried to climb

Mountain Dew.” Ok that joke’s actually

pretty hilarious, but you get the point.

Sophmore year seems to be some-

what useless or uneccessary to most.

So basically, up until this point I’ve

told you that sophomore year is pointless

and that everyone in it is juvenile and

pretentious. Seems like I’m saying that

sophomore year isn’t important. Well

maybe that’s exactly the reason why

it’s important. Because in between all

these critical and life-changing years,

you need a year to just chill out and

find yourself. You don’t need to worry about entering a brand new world, or

leaving an old world, or the eight million

different things juniors need to worry

about. The tests and social functions

that cause them so much stress. You can

just be a kid. And kids are pretentious

and juvenile and that’s okay because

this is probably the last year you can

get away with being pretentious and

juvenile. So if you’re a sophomore then

relax a bit, focus your interests, and get

ready for the life ahead of you. This is

the perfect oppertunity for you to figure out how to be not only a student but

also enjoy your time at Niskyauna High School. Join some clubs, have some fun,

learn how to study, and remember to

be a kid. Sophmore year can be more

then just another year of school, it

can be a great time to learn how to be

you. But then again, don’t listen to me,

people tell me I tend to be sophomoric.

Warrior Photo Credit / William Codd

SMILING AND RELAXING: Sunny Sementelli and Daniel Klepeis pose for a picture before the tree lighting cer-

emony, a great way to relax in the wintertime

The Warrior Magazine May 23, 2018Silver

A couple weeks into freshman year, I asked myself what I’d be like as a senior. Back then, I was scared that I wasn’t going to be happy in high school—that I’d be alone, that I’d struggle with academics, that I’d end up becoming someone I wasn’t happy to be. While a part of me wishes that I could go back and tell my younger self that everything turned out okay, a greater part of me doesn’t want to spoil the book for her. After all, I was barely a few sentences into my story, and already I was only searching for the resolution. What would the ending be without the journey itself—without the conflicts, without the people I befriended along the way, without the character development?

My last chapter of high school began with a girl who was trying to juggle fire torches without knowing how to catch. I was absolutely terrified. I’d heard so many horror stories about first semester from graduated seniors. My senior year story started off as a mess of trying to manage a large course load, extracurriculars, and college applica-tions. Sometimes, it was a luxury to have time to breathe, to simply think for a moment. I was lucky enough to have wonderful people by my side to help me through the harder times.

One of the most stressful parts of senior year for me personally was the college admissions process. It wasn’t necessarily the physical process that was as tolling as the emotional process—that is, physically writing the essays wasn’t too bad, but emotionally keeping stable through it was a challenge. It was hard trying to stay true to who I was when I knew that I was competing against other incredibly intelligent and accomplished individuals. It’s easy to fall into the “I’m not good enough for x college” vortex, and if it weren’t for my friends and my amazing counselor, it’s entirely possible that I would’ve lost myself. The college admissions process is, after all, flawed. While it is partially merit-based, it is important to remember that there are simply so many factors

that go into admissions that there’s no telling what will happen. It’s less important to ask what you need to get into a certain school and more impor-tant that you ask yourself who you are.

While senior year was stressful, knowing that it was my last year of high school made me more gutsy and carefree when it came to relationships with people. I was a lot more willing to just be my own self. There simply isn’t enough time to put on a performance for someone that isn’t close to your heart. This isn’t to say that you should burn all bridges, but rather to focus more on the relationships that matter to you. One of the best things I did this year was going up and talking to people I wanted to talk to. I ended up building strong friendships with amaz-ing people and strengthening those I already had because I didn’t worry so much about messing up. My fondest memories of senior year are all involve people—there’s nothing like spending a couple of hours, minutes even, with the friends you adore. Whether it be a chat at Starbucks or a High School Musical recorder jam session, you can’t go wrong if you just learn to have fun.

I have a couple words for you rising seniors who are worried about similar things. First off, cherish the people that are close to you and spend time with them. A year goes by a lot quicker than you think, and soon the people you saw everyday will no longer be by your side. They’ll be miles and miles away. Enjoy the time you have with them. Secondly, take risks. No, don’t suddenly become a daredevil and try to pull of stunts that you clearly cannot do, but do just try. The worst thing that can happen is that you discover that you’re not cut out for something, but you won’t ever have to wonder what it would’ve been like if you had done something. Lastly, figure out who you really are. Think about what kind of a person you want to be. Do you want to be that person who’s defined solely by the name of their college, or do you want to be someone that’d defined by their shining personality? Who would you be if you didn’t have the name of an institution emblazoned

upon your clothing? Don’t suddenly start taking on responsibilities because it will “look good on your college application,” especially if you don’t have a genuine interest. It’s one thing to take risks, but it’s another to do something only to “impress” an admissions officer.

Senior year might be the last year of high school, but it’s not the end of the book. Senior year marks the end of a small section in this novel, and there’s so much more to live through. What hap-pens now doesn’t necessarily determine your future forever, and it’s important to realize that. What does determine your future is who you are. I look back on my senior year and my high school years and I see a path with twists and turns that eventually straightens out. I didn’t start off as someone I was proud of, and while I’m not done growing as a person—not that I ever truly will—I can proudly say that I am happier to be me. I am not just a GPA, a standardized test score, or a college name. And along the way, I’ve been lucky to find companions to accompany me on this journey and pull me back onto the road when I be-gan to veer. Even with all the trouble and stress, there’s nothing I would do differently if I had the chance to go back to the beginning, because I am who I am today because of the journey I took and the experiences I’ve had. This chapter may have ended, but the rest of the book is yet to be written.

R e f l e c t i n g o n s e n i o r y e a rBy: MJ Lee

Magazine

Warrior Illustration Credit / Mark LipkinGRADUATION: Seniors prepare themselves for the upcoming graduation ceremony.