Senior Josh Gallow making a fast-break pass.

The Rec Ball League took a week off for the holidays, and would return the last Sunday of vacation. Unfortunately, this was too early for players. There was a lack of people at the games, and not all the players showed up to participate in their respective games leading to many problems regarding substitutes and roster availability.

Many of the games were four versus four, causing players to be very tired from the lack of substitutions during the games. This was one issue of week three and many more would follow.

Senior Eric Meredith, received a technical foul in his game after he was knocked down on a fast break, and no call was made. The crowd mockingly laughed at the no call, and Meredith showed his frustration as he got in the referee’s face and began to argue the call. He got a little too close for comfort for the ref and got the technical.

Senior Eric Meredith shows disgust over poor refereeing.

This left a bad taste in the mouths of the refs on Sunday who clearly have made their point that they will not tolerate complaining.

Junior Joey Brunelle, fouled out of his game right after half time, and unfortunately they only had 5 players at the game. His team choose to sit him during most of the game until it got close at the end, where he would come in and help his team get a big victory. With seconds left, junior Matt Sullivan missed a last second three point attempt, and his team would lose the close game. During the game, Brunelle and his parents, who watched from the crowd, showed their displeasure with the refs many times during the game. At one point, a ref turned to the crowd after making a questionable call, and said “enough” to Brunelle’s dad who was complaining about the call.

The refs showed their anger a lot during the games and have shown their authority to stand by their calls, right or wrong. They have also started to step up on giving out more fouls to players who swear during the game.

There were still good games around the league, despite the bad mood that the refs were in and the lack of players or fans at the games.

Upcoming in week 4 are some of the greater games of the season, as the schedules of some teams have changed in order to make the games more competitive and get closer games to prevent the twenty point blowouts that have been occuring recently. Then, after this week, the rest of the schedule will be released, so fans can get ready for a turn for the good in rec ball weeks to come.

Eileen Liu is a very dedicated student here at Westford Academy. She has been chosen this month for student of the month academic. Ken Culver who is the music department director nominated Eileen.

Liu has been a part of senior districts for violin throughout her years at Westford Academy. She was also a part of Allstates freshman sophomore and junior year. If you get into Allstates you can audition for nationals, as long as you are an upperclassman. At the end of last year 120 students from Canada and the US got in. One of these lucky students was Liu.

When it comes to trying out for districts 10 to 15 try out and 5 get in. 2 or 3 of these students get an Allstate recommendation.
For about 11 years Liu has been playing the violin. Music theory is her favorite class and as she goes to college, and starts a career she wants to continue violin but not have it be her main focus.

Liu hopes to apply to Uconn, University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern, Columbia and many others. In college she would like to study biomedical engineering and hopefully work at a healthcare facility.

Liu loves Westford Academy because it is such a close community and all the freedom. She says being a senior is different and she really enjoys it. There are new privileges and you get treated more like an adult.

In her free time she loves to listen to music and relax. She likes mellow calm music. Others things Liu enjoys doing is cooking and reading.
Click to hear more on Eileen

Interview Podcast

There is a new club here at Westford Academy called the BIG Project, short for Bridging International Gaps.

The main idea of the Project is to increase awareness of global issues and strive to amend at least a section of the problem.

Co-chairs Sindhura Sonnathi and Christie Bassinas explained that the Project last year focused on illiteracy.

“As you are growing up, you need an education, especially as a teenager,” said Sonnathi.

Project members have not yet decided upon which problem to tackle this year.

Compared to last year, the turnout this year of members regularly attending was almost double, perhaps due to the increased advertising.

Currently, BIG Project hopes to have a strong grip on this high school before it begins to spread to other schools, both in Westford and abroad.

Interview with Paul Poisson

Over the years many teachers have come and gone, but one teacher has been at Westford Academy longer than the rest.

This is Paul Poisson’s 35th consecutive year at WA. He originally started as a math and science teacher and now focuses on chemistry.

Poisson sees some changes since he first started teaching. “The thing I’ve seen the most is the growth of the school,” said Poisson.

The other change he has seen is the technological advances. Technology has modified the way the curriculum is taught and Poisson has made some changes to incorporate technology in his teachings. Although, he does not use technology just for the sake of it.

Poisson wanted to be a teacher ever since his childhood. Now after almost 35 years at Westford Academy he seems happy to have his job. “I’ve been happy here since day one. I think the kids around here are just fantastic. The teachers have always been great,” he said.

As for the future, Poisson is aiming for at least 40 years at WA and then he will just see where he goes from there.

“I’ve always enjoyed coming into school, I’ve never regretted it,” said Poisson.

Staff Writer

Cory Roman, a Westford Academy math teacher, has recently become Westford Academy’s Varsity Baseball coach.

Varsity Baseball in 2010

Baseball is an important part of Roman’s life. In the six years he has been teaching at WA, he has coached both freshmen and JV teams.

As senior Alan Surette, one of the Varsity Baseball captains, remarked, “Roman’s been with the program for a while, so he knows what he’s doing.”

As a young child, Roman can remember “playing catch with my father in the yard.” He played T-ball as a child and kept playing baseball throughout his life.

Roman played baseball at Acton Boxboro High School. He also played at Haverford College.

In regards to this year’s team, Roman remarked that, “We’ve got a strong team returning.”

Roman is a firm believer in baseball being a part of education.

According to Roman, “A lot of my education came from the baseball field; in terms of sportsmanship, learning how to win the right way, but also learning how to lose the right way.”

He has several goals for his players this year. Roman wants his team to be committed to both the sport and to improving at baseball.

Roman remarked, “One of the goals of the program is to continue success on the field, but off the field as well.”