Features – Page 2 – A Student Publication of the Roxbury Latin School

A couple of crosswords to pass the time

By Michael Allen IV

Michael Allen has developed a website for his crosswords. Go check it out right here: https://sites.google.com/roxburylatin.org/crosswordsbymichael/home

By Lucas Vander Elst V

1	2	3	4
5
6
7

Across:

1. Erin’s husband

5. Brand name that rhymes with [3 down]

6. Princess who was to nurse Zeus before replaced by the goat, Amalthea

7. Wolverine state org. for getting around

Down:

1. 70s Rock style

2. A marsh plant that sounds (not spells) like a certain Classmaster

3. Brand name that rhymes with [5 across]

4. Bridge troll’s enemy

Answer Key:

1G	2R	3E	4G
5L	E	G	O
6A	E	G	A
7M	D	O	T

By John Harrington I

What will a coronavirus summer feel like?

By Ben Chang-Holt II

As Roxbury Latin boys looked ahead to the summer of 2020, they were worried about what was to come. Was there any chance of getting a paying summer job? Could they still be selected for that coveted research internship they had been hoping for? Would they be able to travel around the world? Most RL boys gave up, only making plans to sleep in until noon, play video games all day, and binge-watch The Office for the 14^th time. Many resigned themselves to the inevitable: their summer would, sadly, be utterly “unproductive.” Then, COVID-19 arrived.

Three departed faculty make room for Zoom interviews

By John Harrington I

Recently, one of my highlights of the quarantine was the opportunity to sit down (virtually) through Zoom with three esteemed former RL faculty members, Matt Dinger, Andrew Kingsley, and Cary Snider. They were all glad to share their fond experiences at school and to shed light on the next chapters of their lives. Here are their interviews, in the order of how much I liked them as teachers, along with my editorial commentary. I’m totally kidding. It’s just alphabetical:

Thank You, Mr. Wildes

Beloved teacher-coach returns to his alma mater, Pomfret School

By Mat Cefail I

This spring we must sadly say goodbye to Mr. Josh Wildes, who will be leaving RL after eight years. Mr. Wildes taught calculus, analysis, geometry, and algebra, which were always both fun and rewarding. He coached junior lacrosse for six years, and he led the school’s Anime Club for two. In addition to these activities, Mr. Wildes was the head coach of varsity wrestling for all eight years. In the 2018-2019 wrestling season, he was inducted into New England’s Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame as Coach of the Year.

Tactics of big-spending candidates raise questions about campaign financing

By John Harrington I

The fight for the Democratic nomination for the presidency in 2020 included a very interesting and diverse race. The initial field was massive, including young startups Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Andrew Yang, experienced moderates Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar, progressives Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, tenacious representative Tulsi Gabbard, along with a full cast of relatively minor players who dropped out along the way. Perhaps the most notable pairing in this array were the two billionaires, businessman Tom Steyer and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The Nevada Democratic Primary Debate on February 12, 2020

Sixies adapt to life in quarantine

By Omar Rahman VI

COVID-19, the epidemic of our century, has kept us stuck within ourselves and among our families while boredom and weariness creep upon us. Sixies in particular are used to the bustling commotion of sixie year and endless hours of homework and neglect for themselves as their grades plunge into the abyss. Now, with the time for anything and all things, sixies transition themselves into a more reflective state of emotion, not like that of a sage gaining wisdom but more akin to a fox plotting sly actions to escape their solitary confinement. Of course, most parents try to coax their children into an academic and athletic workload, but of course sixies con them with music, many TikTok videos, and in some cases, nothing is an escape from this contagion.

Please stop writing about Corona!

By Dennis Jin V

These are extraordinary circumstances and extraordinary times. Our lives have been upended and our livelihoods changed, possibly forever. Everything is online now: our classes, our work, and, most troublingly, our knowledge about the outside world.

My father left Laos in search of a better life

By Jayden Phan V

All Class V students in Mr. Pojman’s English class deliver a “speech of personal experience” to their classmates as a winter assignment. Jayden Phan’s was particularly compelling. It is reprinted here slightly abbreviated for publication.

Would you ever want to leave your country and live somewhere else? Imagine.

Here are our picks of the Best Music, Best Movies, and Best TV to pass the time during the quarantine

By Frankie Lonergan II

We all have ungodly amounts of free time. Here are some TV, movies, and music that I’ve used to keep me busy these past few weeks.

First-ever virtual Recital Hall features student and faculty musicians

By Jonathan Weiss I

RL’s first-ever virtual Recital Hall boasts everything from intimate in-home performances to composites of recordings made literally across the world. It features a remarkable variety of genre and production, with two solo acts, a live in-house act, and two acts recorded in separate places and edited together.