Greetings, Readers! I am currently a student at Holliston High and member of the National Honor Society. As such, I am expected to create a leadership project which demonstrates positive community interaction. I’ve chosen to write articles for the Holliston Reporter to close what I perceive as an information gap between the High School and community at large. I’ll write about HHS happenings and include interviews with club leaders, students, and others involved.
Interview with Mari Braun, Captain of the Chess Club
Tell me about yourself.
I’m Mari Braun, one of the captains and founders of the Holliston Chess Club. I lead the club alongside Eleanor Powell and Sai Atluri. Growing up I had been a casual chess player, but during the pandemic I became very serious about the game thanks to all of the free time that I had.
What does the club do?
We organize meets with neighboring towns and compete in tournaments with each other. When we aren’t doing that, we are practicing our chess skills, or trying different chess variants/relatives such as shogi, 3d chess, and bughouse chess.
How is the club important?
Chess is one of the most timeless games out there, so it just seems natural that there would be a club playing it at the high school. I also believe that it’s just a really effective way to make friends since it’s very easy to talk over the board due to the (usually) slow pace
Is there anything exciting going on in the club right now?
Last Wednesday, we played against North Attleboro, Medfield, and Franklin in a chess tournament. I got to meet a lot of new faces since North Attleboro was new to our chess league, and the Medfield and Franklin Clubs had grown since last year.
How’d you get involved with Chess Club?
During my sophomore year, my friend, Matthew Walther and I discovered that we shared an interest in chess. It started as a group chat where we would play games throughout the day, but it eventually grew into a larger discord server. Eventually it got large enough that Matt proposed that we turn it into a club and it’s been that way since.
What is in the club’s future? So far, we are only doing the local league meets every month. We have considered playing in more competitive events, however with the club being more casual, along with the high cost of entry, we decided to stick to what we’ve been doing for the time being.
News Around HHS
See any new faces in town? Exchange students from France are visiting for the next couple of weeks. They’re attending classes and interacting with HHS students. They’ll experience what it’s like to live in America. This is all happening while the term is wrapping up. The first quarter of the school year will be over on November 4th, with some students taking up new electives and classes in the new term.
The coming weeks are packed, with a day off on November 4th for teachers’ professional development, a day off on the 11th for Veterans Day, and days off on the 24th and 25th for Thanksgiving. Winter Sports start soon as the weather grows colder.
In other news, Halloween costumes decorated the halls on the 31st, with the tradition of seniors dressing up continuing this year. Seniors will be holding a dump day on the 20th. In NHS news, the canned food drive for the Holliston Food Pantry was a huge success. The next NHS event is the Senior Center Dinner and Show which will be on November 16th at the High School Cafeteria. There will be a dress rehearsal for the upcoming fall play, Pippin, as well as bingo and dinner, back this year after a Covid hiatus.
Administration
The high school administration discovered racial slurs scrawled on the walls in one of the staircases. They released an email on October 20th detailing that the incident violates school values and is being investigated. This is the second incident this year at the High School. In a statement to students and families, the school reiterated its goal:
“continu[ing] to work as a school community on year two of our commitment towards the Anti-Defamation League’s No Place for Hate designation. It is essential that all members of the HHS community work together to ensure ALL students, staff and families have a safe and supportive environment to learn and grow as individuals and as a collective group.”
Unfortunately, incidents of hate speech are becoming another part of student life, with similar reactions each time, and then everyone moves on. It’s a cycle where students recognize something is wrong, but don’t see what they can do about it.
Sports Updates
Sports team Standings as of 10/27/2022:
- Girls Varsity Cheer begins on October 29th in Bellingham
- Boys Varsity Cross Country has ended with 3 wins to 2 losses
- Girls Varsity Cross Country has ended with 5 wins to 0 losses
- Boys Varsity Soccer has ended with 9 wins to 4 losses with 2 ties
- Girls Varsity Soccer has ended with 9 wins to 7 losses with 2 ties
- Girls Varsity Field Hockey is going 2 wins to 14 losses with 1 tie
- The next match is on the 28th
- Boys Varsity Football is going 6 wins to 1 loss
- The next game is on the 28th
- Girls Varsity Volleyball is going 6 wins to 11 losses
- The next game is on the 28th
Stay tuned for my next article at the end of November as I work toward building a connection with the Holliston community. Please feel free to send me questions and ideas!
Thanks, Simon. Great to hear what’s going on from the student perspective. Love learning about the Chess Club; sounds like fun.
Thank you for starting this awesome communication between the HHS student community and the rest of the town. I hope it continues and thrives. Excellent leadership project, Simon! And thanks to all who participate.
– Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
– Martin Luther King, Jr.
Great job Simon! I echo some other commenters asking for a follow up about the hate speech incidents at HHS and the Middle School. It’s very troubling and I think it is important for the community to know what is happening and what steps the administration is taking.
Great job, Simon! I love seeing you take an active role in representing students’ voices and providing updates from the HS!