By Mauranda Men ’16 and Sanya Bery ’17, Feature Editors

2015 is over, and the NA community has taken it in stride so well that it’s almost like the year hasn’t changed. For this set, we at Feature simply wanted to remind you of some of what last year brought. Since everyone seems to like but doesn’t seem to trust numerical statistics, here you go:

30: The estimated number of drivers displaced by the recent construction in the parking lot outside the arts wing. Although the tumult has calmed down now, just a month ago, student drivers, faculty and staff members, bus drivers, and parents were confused, irritated….mostly confused. 30 sounds small in the context of the many people affected by the switch; however, everyone trying to get in and out was affected – there are even rumors of some faculty fall-outs over the coveted parking spaces.

7: The number of faculty members that got married this year! Love was in the air in 2015, bringing two of our very own NA couples together: Ms. Lopretto and Mr. Rezvani, along with Ms. Powell and Mr. Caldwell. In fact, the Rezvanis embraced their NA spirit and got married at the beautiful campus over the summer. On the other hand, Ms. Reeves, Mr. Weiss and Ms. Bateman all married people outside of the school. Several engagements, in varying stages of secrecy, came about as well. They’re for 2016, though. Congratulations to all!

4: The number of NA babies we welcomed into 2015! Mr. Ryan, Mr. Torson and Ms. Cohen all experienced the birth of their little bundles of joy last year. Mr. Scerra’s daughter just slipped in as the year ended on December 31st.

13: The number of championships the Minuteman community won in 2015. Winter started out with a bang with a Prep B Title from a makeshift co-ed winter track team. The spring saw many victories: the men’s tennis team won 3 championship titles, women’s track won the Super Essex Conference, men’s track won the Prep B championship, men’s lacrosse won the division, and the baseball team took the Sectional State Championship. The fall was a successful season as well, with 2 state championships apiece from men’s soccer and women’s tennis and a state title for men’s cross country as well.

1938: The Newark Academy class that shall henceforth be known as the one that produced the 2015 Convocation speaker, Mr. Jay Kislak. Although Convocation seems long past, the speech was probably the most memorable of any student’s career at Newark Academy thus far. The relevance of his words and actions continue into 2016. In the words of Emma Hoffman ‘16, “the speech this year basically ensured that we’ll be analyzing the speeches of every speaker this year very closely.” The memories of Mr. Kislak’s speech will stay relevant throughout the community at

least until Convocation 2016, or maybe until the class of 2022 leaves the school. In this age where no information truly dies, who knows?

16: The number of actors in the fall drama. It may come as a surprise that such a small number of people pulled off an adapted version of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, along with the help of roughly 10 more students directing and on stage crew. This small but talented group captivated Newark Academy with their show, and as always, the community is waiting patiently in anticipation of a wonderful winter musical. Clearly, what with the instrumental and dance concerts and the community art exhibit coming up, the Arts department is going into 2016 prepared to amaze.

With all of this going on, no wonder we seem to have forgotten 2015 already–there’s so much to anticipate in 2016 and the years to come!