On September 15th, a catastrophic hurricane, Sally, loomed above the Gulf of Mexico. Already, it was working its way toward the Southeast of the U.S. at a mere two miles per hour, yet leaving meteorologists concerned by the severe damage it was inflicting to the coasts of Mississippi, Florida, and Alabama--the slow pace was actually causing more harm. By Wednesday, hundreds of people in that area were already desperately escaping floodwaters. “It's incredible that so many storms can develop all at once and that we've already had so many hurricanes when there are still two months left in the hurricane season,” physics teacher Ms. Kristin Newton told the Register Forum. “I'm also baffled by the idea of getting over 30 inches of rain at once. I can't even imagine it.” That Wednesday night, the Category 2 hurricane was already ten miles northwest of Troy, Alabama and was continuing its way up to the Northeast at nine miles per hour with wind speeds of 35 miles per hour. Citizens panicked as their towns flooded, the rivers filled up, and houses and other buildings were eradicated. “The effects of Hurricane Sally on the coast of the State of Florida are devastating. Anytime people live near the ocean, they have an even greater chance of being affected by harsh weather such as this recent storm. It is interesting to know that 2020 now has a record breaking Atlantic hurricane season. I believe the earth goes through cycles every 100+ years, and we may be living through one of those right now,”

In early June, the use of a former mascot, deemed racist by many Cantabrigians, as a logo on merchandise for Cambridge Alumni was brought to the attention of the Cambridge Public Schools (CPS) community. A petition to discontinue the use of the logo gained momentum, and on Tuesday, September 15th, the School Committee met and reached a resolution regarding the petition. CRLS alumna, and leader in creating the petition, Tina Groeger ’04, recalls first seeing the logo on a directory. Produced by the Rindge Tech Alumni Association (RTAA), the directory was intended to encompass all Cambridge alumni, including those of the Rindge Technical School, Cambridge High and Latin, and the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS).  In 1977, Rindge Tech and Cambridge High were combined to form CRLS. The mascot, intended to depict an indigenous person and betoken the Rindge Tech “Warriors,” was first employed by Rindge Tech in 1972 and went on to represent Cambridge through CRLS, until an indigenous student in 1989 brought the issue to the administration, and it was abolished. 

At the beginning of last month, California began to face some of the worst wildfires recorded in over 90 years. The Sacramento Bee, a local Californian newspaper, reported that during a massive mid-August thunderstorm, Northern California and the Bay Area were hit with thousands of lightning strikes, causing dozens of fires to ignite. Due to the late summer weather on the West Coast, large gusts of wind blew over the California area, causing the larger fires to erupt in size, engulfing California in flames. The Fresno Bee, another local paper based in Fresno, CA, stated on September 22nd that the ‘Creek Fire,’ which has run through Fresno and the Madera counties, burned over 286,000 acres, with only 32% of the fire being contained. This is only one of multiple fires sprouting all around California. These fires have demolished homes, taken lives, and destroyed forests which house millions of animals throughout the state. Freshman Isaac Wedaman states, “It's frustrating to see all these people displaced, and it’s hard to see fires around California spike throughout the years.”

As another school year arrives, the preparation for standardized testing resumes as well. For years, standardized testing has been a contentious topic in America. Some believe that standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT are good ways to benchmark students. Mr. Ross Benson, a teacher in the CRLS Math Department, believes, "The problem is that most standardized testing does not measure a student's knowledge and understanding because they are mostly multiple choice." Most standardized tests are no longer penalizing students for ‘guessing’ the answer when they are in a time crunch. This makes it so students' scores can possibly increase even if they did not have the full understanding of a question they were being tested on. A student's answer to a short answer and open response question is another story—you can only receive credit on these questions if you show correct work, which blatantly displays if a student understands the material. Mr. Benson adds, “The Advanced Placement testing that happened last year was the best possible online standardized testing I have seen.” Mr. Benson continues, saying, “That being said, if I was a college I wouldn't give anyone credit for doing well on these exams because they didn't cover a lot of the curriculum.”