Harbinger The Algonquin
January 2016 vOL. 28 NO. 3
The Student Newspaper of Algonquin Regional High School 79 Bartlett street, Northborough MA 01532 | arhsharbinger.COM
Reflections Redefined Students strive to change outlook on body image
New security cameras on the look-out
Chloe fay
Shannon Youngberg
Staff Writer
Assistant News Editor
“Reflection Redefined,” a DECA project created by senior Kate Kalinowski and junior Kira Porter, educated the Algonquin community about body image through an art show, informative handouts, announcements, and activities this month. From January 11 to January 22, the two-week campaign began with an “inform” week, educating students and staff about body image and spreading awareness, then a “redefine” week, celebrating the unique beauty each individual holds. “The goal of our campaign is to help our peers feel good about themselves, while educating them about body image issues,” Kalinowski said. “We hope that photos Rafaela Coelho by the end of the campaign our peers are able to view themselves and others as Professional photographer Charise Isis discusses her pieces for the Reflecmore than just their physical appearances. tins Redefined art show with art teacher Danielle DiCiero. Every person has positive attributes and “A high school classroom is a great Alongside student submitted artwe want them to weigh those just as heav- place to identify and break down this work, professional photographer Charise ily as their physical appearance.” topic so students can reflect on them,” Isis donated four photos from her cam“I hope that the campaign can bring art teacher Danielle DiCiero said. “Since paign “The Grace Project,” featuring forth more compassion for others in the high school is a place where people often women who have had mastectomies. community and improve the self esteem feel tied to these topics, it seems crucial to “I’m excited to share this work with of classmates, faculty, and anyone else foster discussions that allow for positive a young audience and I’m impressed by our campaign can affect,” Porter said. change.” women like Kate and Kira who want to The campaign ended with an art “Body image is something that’s really help shift the perspective,” Isis said. “If show in room C111, which opened Janu- hard for a lot of people to talk about,” Ka- I can help bring the message to a young ary 21, featuring work inspired by body linowski said. “It’s usually a very personal [audience] that our beauty comes from image issues. Kalinowski and Porter hope and emotional subject for a lot of people, within... that self acceptance is incredibly to spark conversation among the Algon- so I think giving students a creative outlet powerful and that we are all scarred in quin community through the gallery. to talk about body image is very helpful.” our own ways, then the project will have served its purpose. We need to learn to embrace ourselves as we are now, to love ourselves and to make healthy choices, to realize we are enough. ” Kalinowski and Porter were inspired to create the project after realizing body image wasn’t something that is often discussed in classrooms.
The installation of new and improved security cameras throughout the school took the first step toward the goal of a safer school environment this November. “It’s really part of a larger program; what we call a capital project that’s going to increase security and safety here at the school,” Principal Tom Mead said. “So it’s an enhancement on what we already had and have which is a number of cameras around the building and the campus.” The installation not only added to the quantity of the cameras around the school, but it added to the effectiveness of the security system as a whole. “The difference is technical in the sense that all the cameras that we had before are called analogue cameras; these are now digital cameras which is a bit of a technology leap if you will,” Mead said. Mead stressed the advanced nature of the digital cameras’ abilities. “Many of these digital cameras are rather sophisticated in the sense that within one fixture there are three cameras, so they can see different directions at the same time,” Mead said. “That’s a big difference from what we had before with the analogue cameras which were just one direction.” According to Mead, the most recent installation of cameras is the first of four projected stages to improve upon the building’s security. “H100, H200, D100, and D200 were targeted with 18 new cameras for a total cost of about $37,000,” Mead said. “We’ve also installed a couple of driveway cameras which costed around close to $8,000.” There is still discussion as to whether or not there will be more cameras installed in the future.
Reflections, page 11 Left: Senior Kate Kalinowski stands next to the Relfection Redefined pieces. Right: Senior Kendall Sweeney patiently waits for her photographs, which will be displayed in the art show, to be printed in the digital art lab.
Security, page 2 Photo Illustration Rafaela Coelho
Helping Paw lends a hand to animal community Shannon Youngberg
Assistant News Editor The Helping Paw Club continues to advocate for the humane treatment of all animals through various fundraisers. The club was founded by Kevin McKenna in 2013 in hopes of making a difference in the animal world. “I started it [the club] when I was a sophomore because I like animals and I wanted to help elephants,” president senior Kevin McKenna said. “I talked to a couple of teachers who were able to get it started.” Social studies teachers Stephen Godbout and Gina Johnston co-advise the club. According to Johnston, the club is specifically fo-
What’s INSIDE:
Identify the beard page 3
cusing on The International Elephant Foundation and The Baypath Humane Society this year. “We support animals by raising awareness about what is happening in the animal world and we raise money through our fundraisers such as pizza sales and bake sales,” junior Stephen Dahlstrom said. The callous extremities elephants endure are what led the club channeling so much of their efforts toward The National Elephant Foundation. “We are hoping to support the National Elephant Foundation to help save elephants that are dying in the wild,” McKenna said. “The reason why we are supporting that is because 96 elephants are killed each day because of the illegal ivory trade due to poaching.” The club is able to make a difference through their
Teachers who are alumuni pages 8-9
on-going efforts such as fundraisers throughout the year. “We do fundraisers like pizza sales and plan on doing a 50/50 raffle to raise money to donate to the organizations,” junior Patrick Neusch said. The club has high ambitions for their successes and the influence they hope to have on the community. “Some goals are to raise enough money to make a little impact on a few lives in need,” Neusch said. “We also want to get more people actively involved in trying to lessen animal abuse and protect the animals that are endangered.” The Helping Paw Club meets after school the second and fourth Wednesday of every month in G102.
Oscar movie reviews: movies that made an impact page 12-13