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Forum on Race, Ethnicity, and Power of Friendship

By: Tova Turner and Sandrea Celestin

On February 9, 2018, several students organized a forum on race and ethnicity. Its purpose was to discuss the historical and current issues surrounding racial and ethnic social dynamics in the United States.

After the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s led by many African-American leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, James Baldwin, and Malcolm X, our nation saw significant changes that improved the lives of Black citizens.  However, today, minority groups in the United States still face great racial and ethnic discrimination.

In our forum we discussed how the history of slavery and segregation affected the lives of Black Americans. Some of the topics we discussed were how Black Americans were harassed in the process of desegregation in the 1960’s, the evolution of use of the N-word, racial profiling, police brutality,  the Black Lives Matter Movement, the rise of White Supremacists and Nationalist groups. The forum was important because minorities still face injustice and discrimination today, and this is not talked about enough.

The intention of the forum was to start a conversation about how these issues affect our country, as well other countries where similar racist and xenophobic behavior takes place. Our goal was to inform our community about how social prejudice still exists today. We took on this responsibility with optimism, and we hope that honest communication and the power of friendship can help lead the way to a better society.

On behalf of the students who participated in the forum (Tova, Sandrea, Kate, Norah, Jet, Lexi and Jalyn) thank you to the students, faculty and staff for joining us in this important discussion.

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Futsal Tournament Arrives at CATS

By: Nina Sunago

A sport that used to be completely unknown by many members of our community is not anymore. This month, the term “FUTSAL” gained a whole lot of meaning. The first CATS Futsal Tournament, filled our school’s gym with people who desired to see what it was all about and which teams would become the big winners.

Competing in the Gym were eight teams in the men’s brackets, and four teams in the women’s brackets. Many had creative names like THE GUCCIER GANG, FAB5, and STAGE 5.  Among the twelve teams, three of them were entirely made up of faculty and staff, who joyfully took up the challenge to compete against student teams.

After a lot of fun, and sweat, CLUB DE TOBY and BIRITEIRAS won the prizes; fifty dollar gift cards for the Cheesecake Factory. The MVP’s of the tournament, Thiago Peres and Paola Guzman, were chosen by our voluntary referees. So, FUTSAL, another very successful sports event was added to our community. And there are more events to come. Students can expect the CATS Madness Basketball Tournament in the beginning of April, and hopefully a Football Flag Tournament later in the semester.

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CATS Cafe Showcases Student Musical Talent

By: Helena Fauvel

The CATS Cafe is an event that happens periodically in our community.  It is an upbeat opportunity for students play and sing music they like – songs can be in English, Portuguese, Russian, Vietnamese, Spanish, Chinese, or any language.  The enjoyment of music any language is of course universal.

When CATS Cafe is held, it takes place during lunch and advisory time on Tuesday and Friday. If you want to participate, you will always be welcome. But, if you only want to watch, that’s ok – every performer needs an audience!

Come to the Cafe, it is a great opportunity to relax and have fun with your friends between class periods. It’s also a great opportunity to show your musical talent.

CATS Cafe will return after break to the Student Lounge, so watch for announcements about the next date so you can come and enjoy the atmosphere.

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Poetry Out Loud A Success

By: Sasha Chernysehva

What is poetry and why do we need it? It is individual for everyone; it can be a beautiful composition of words, a meaningful narrative, or a simple leisure activity.  For me, poetry is a cure; and sometimes, when life  gets hard, I prescribe myself an hour of simply reading poetry out loud. That in my opinion, is a good reason for the CATS English department to “prescribe” for us all a Poetry Out Loud week.

During the Poetry Out Loud week at CATS every student was required  to learn a poem from the Poetry Out Loud website by heart and recite it in their English class. The winner of the internal class competitions, went to the school competition where they recited two poems. The winner of the school competition, earned the chance to participate in the state contest.

All of the students were explicitly told to choose a poem that speaks to them in some way. So even though they put an immense amount of effort into their performances, students actually enjoyed doing it. There are a couple veterans of Poetry Out Loud who merit special recognition because they successfully participated in the school contest for two or three years in a row.  Livia Qeli, was the winner of this year, with her poem “Dear Reader” by Rita Mae Reese, and Anna Merzlyakova, who earned second place last year and took the third place this year. They managed to capture the attention of the audience and show them how amazing it is to listen to poetry. As Mr. Levine would probably say: “They shared a lot of awesomeness.”

The Poetry Out Loud week was outstanding this year, and the CATS community is very proud of how much talent and potential it revealed in our students. A big thank you to all who participated, and special congratulations and good luck to Livia Qeli who will represent CATS community at the state level!

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Dorm Life at CATS Boston

By: Sasha Chernysehva

Dorm life is a unique experience that only boarding students can have. There is a prevalent opinion that dorm life is humdrum and doesn’t carry much weight in the context of one’s boarding experience. However, this is an indisputable underestimation, it may well be one’s favorite part. Dorm life is certainly important and deserves notice. Here’s the overview of my experience with CATS dorm life.

My social life in CATS began in the dorm. When I came here last year, I was very anxious about merging in to a completely new community. However, soon I realized that the dorm environment was more than welcoming, and shortly I felt really comfortable with meeting new people and making new friends. There were times when we all gathered together in the lounge, to watch movies on Netflix, listen to music, cook food, or just talk. These simple things create the warm and cozy environment that helped me join the CATS community in my first year.

Both of my dorm parents, during the first two years, were very involved in my life. In my home country, it would be my parents who would provide assistance if I had concerns about teachers, grades, or my personal life.   Here at CATS, my dorm parents are very involved, caring and work hard every day to create a welcoming community on the floor. For example, my dorm parent makes hot pots for everybody on the floor.  Other dorm parents have done things like organize a karaoke night or make Sunday breakfast for the floor.  They are always looking for new and creative things to do.

Holidays in dorms are always celebrated. On Halloween and Thanksgiving, all of the dorms were adorned with festive decorations; and although, we were not here for Christmas, an effort was made to illuminate our dorms, celebrate with food and Secret Santa presents were given on the night before we left. The Gardner House recently had a Valentine’s Party on February 14; they distributed valentines and little presents, had food and music, and celebrated the holiday with hugs. Many of the students dressed in costume or wore red for the occasion.

Dorm life at CATS is a big part of the school experience, if classes are not the best part of your day, dorm life certainly may be.

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Cultural Fair Highlights: A Call for Global Unity

By: Alice Nguyen

The Culture Fair could be just like any other school event which occurs during assembly time, but it is not. It is like an artwork: there are those who work on it for days, and those who enjoy it in a fleetingly quick timeframe. Even though it only lasted two hours, it was worth it!

Tremendous effort was put into the preparation for the Culture Fair, thanks to Ms. Carroll, her organizing team, countless students, and staff members. The result was a dazzling success. Musical acts such as the iconic Russian song “Katyusha” and the Brazilian “Dona Maria” group dance generated plenty of laughter and excitement—a perfect opening for more fun to come. A guest dance group performed some African dances along with the many students who joined them on stage. The fashion show featured elaborate costumes from around the world, including Korean hanbok, Vietnamese ao dai, a Japanese kimono, and many others. The highlight of the fair, as always, was the amazing food: Vietnamese cha gio, Russian boortsog, Philippine lumpia, Moroccan tea, Canadian pancakes, Mexican tacos, Albanian baklava, Brazilian coxinha, Taiwanese bubble tea, Chinese noodles, Korean pancakes, Japanese candies, Bulgarian snacks, American cookies, and Italian pasta.

As one of the organizers of the fair, my hope is that it was more than just an event to you, as it was for me. I can still recall quite vividly standing amidst a sea of indistinct chatter of languages, in a room that felt like a mini cut out version of the world. Visiting a booth was like traveling to a different country where I was immediately welcomed. Indeed, the fair’s significance surpassed the parameters of our school community alone. Here are the young generations of Morocco, Vietnam, Korea, Italy, Albania, Taiwan, Mexico, Russia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbek, Japan, China, Brazil, Philippines, Bulgaria, Canada, America—all united, unafraid to open our doors and welcome others. There are the differences we have, the history we do not share, the languages we cannot comprehend, and they all are beautiful together. The fair, as I experienced it, was a call for global unity, open barriers, and universal acceptance of all races, ethnicities, nationalities, and cultures.

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Four Ways to Enjoy A Restful Spring Break

By: Howard Ng

Spring Break is coming!!! As usual, we count down to break as if was a winning lottery ticket. Most students crave an increased amount of sleep, relaxation, and rest for the 22 days of break.  Then we will all come back to complete the final two months of the school year. I would like to propose four meaningful ways you can efficiently use those 22 days of spring break and not waste a single day.

  1. Actually Relax:

Over the break, don’t just stay in your room and stare at a screen and eat junk food for a whole day. A great and meaningful way to relax is by going to the beach and enjoying the sun if you desire, or you can simply enjoy a tranquil afternoon picnic with your family at a park. If these things do not tempt you enough, you can simply have a serene day fishing at a lake, where you can clear your mind, indulge yourself in the amazing scenery and hopefully catch something for lunch.

  1. Adventure and Explore:

There are many ways to enjoy the break in the wild. Spending a few days, getting your hands dirty and exploring nature can be exhilarating, delightful and memorable. Take camping for example, it is nice to have the scents of nature around you, to build a campfire and cook a simple but tasty meal in the outdoors. At night you can relax listening to the crickets singing at night. Camping is also very empowering because it helps you build survival skills and is a great way to be unplugged.

3.Volunteer:

During the spring break, a great way to spend a day or two is to get active by volunteering for a local community organization where you live.  When you make a difference in the lives of others I believe you will find happiness in giving. You can also gain valuable life experience that will help you in the future and enhance your resume.  You can gain new skills and training and learn how to work in teams with others towards a common goal.

  1. “Play Scholar”

After the break, we will all return to school and you could take the opportunity to get ahead during the break.  You can “Play Scholar” and complete assignments given to you before break by your teachers which are due after we come back.   You have the assignment and know exactly what to do, so get it all done and then relax!  In this way you will make your return to school so much easier.

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Book Club Goes to Harvard

By: Maya Stoilova

The moonlight was reflected in the beautiful academic buildings of Harvard University. We, the book lovers, were there, in front of an old auditorium, for one simple reason – to hear Angie Thomas talk about her book, The Hate U Give.  The book touched the hearts of many young readers through its open discussion of racism and discrimination in the United States. But, who is Angie Thomas? Why were young high school students and people from all around the world so impatient to hear her talk that evening? And, why were there so many people waiting for a ticket, even though the event was sold out, in front of the large old auditorium? Everyone was simply anticipating Angie’s arrival – waiting to hear what drove her to write about the the relations between people and the hate they give.

Angie was on stage ten minutes after her arrival. Once she was there, the whole auditorium exploded in  a loud round of applause. Everyone present appeared to be excited to hear her story. They wished to learn the ways in which she managed to fight inequality and discrimination while staying true to her opinions. Her life story directly reflects in the story of the young girl she wrote about. The young girl who hated the discrimination and racism she saw. She  was not afraid to raise her voice and show people that prejudice is simply deceiving, unnatural, and truly destructive. Angie’s novel made all these issues, the issues of racial segregation, discrimination, and inequality turn from something that we had only heard of in the news to something we could feel through the events the characters in her book went through.

This trip left all six of us speechless, yet, with so much to say. Once we had left the auditorium and gotten back to the car, we could not stop talking about what we had heard. Were all these things really happening? In our book club meeting on Tuesday, we simply could not concentrate on the book. Instead of discussing the characters of Chris and Maya, we simply asked each other questions. Had we experienced discrimination in our own lives? Were our experiences formed by our skin color and the shape of our eyes? Or was because of the part of town we came from? Had we ever discriminated against someone just because of biases we had? Were we ready to listen to other people’s stories without judging them? Were we going to help a person who was being bullied and put in an inferior position? Were we ready to become an Angie ourselves?

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Intrepid Elegance Fashion Show

By: Tang Thu Ha Ngo (Jessica)

Fashion Shows performed by students at CATS Academy have become a very important part of our school culture.

As I’m writing this, the anticipation and excitement I felt at the Intrepid Elegance CATS Fashion Show which happened at the beginning of holidays has not gone away. This event was very entertaining and was the culmination of 3 months of hard work for the students and teachers involved from fashion department, Dr. Napior’s Technology Club and Mr. Lewan’s music class

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