By Sophie Hu ‘26, Commentary Writer A bowl of dates. (枣 zǎo in Mandarin) (Photo courtesy of Healthline) 囫囵吞枣(húlún tūnzǎo): To swallow a date whole. To accept without thinking. The story goes that a young guest was eating pears and dates. His host warned him about eating too many pears, which, while good for the…

by Anika Lippke ‘24, Commentary Editor The first post-prison selfie tweeted by Gypsy Rose Blanchard @GypsyRose_B on X. Remember when Britney Spears went bald?  I do, and I’m definitely not alone in thinking that’s off-putting. Spears shaved her head in a fit of mania after succumbing to the pressures of being constantly subjected to the…

by Kieri Keys ‘24, Commentary Writer Image of Grover, Percy, and Annabeth in the new Percy Jackson series.  Image courtesy of Disney+ Race-blind casting is a phenomenon that’s been taking the live-action remake franchise by storm. The opposite of race-specific casting, which only considers actors of a certain race for a role, race-blind casting occurs…

By Olivia Palker ‘24, Commentary Editor NA’s students working at the Interfaith Food Pantry. Image courtesy of @na_service Last year, Director of Community Service Ms. Fischer’s announcement — “don’t forget to log your hours!” — had a tone of desperation: too many people had missed the deadline. In a couple of months, Ms. Fischer will…

By Alexis Zhang ‘26, Commentary Staff Writer Picture of common fashion magazines featured in the early 2000s. Courtesy of y2kmagazines From the low-rise jeans and velour tracksuits that dominated early 2000s fashion to the current style embodying comfort through sweats and a hoodie, clothing trends among teens have undergone a striking evolution. Apparel can mirror…

By Sanjita Tumu ‘27, Commentary Staff Writer One of the Food Trucks that was present at Food Truck Day. Credits to Pinterest Food Truck Day is an event that students are always looking forward to, where they are able to destress from their busy days and bond over a shared love of food. Students are…

By Allie Chevance-Singh ‘25, Commentary Editor Blackbaud Multi-Factor Authentication Sign-In, Courtesy of Blackbaud At the start of each school day, Newark Academy students log in to their MyNA accounts to read emails, view their schedule for the day, and review homework assignments for the week. Now, when logging into our accounts, we need to enter…

By Allie Singh ‘25, Commentary Editor Image Courtesy of OkienStudio on Etsy As we navigate the choppy waters of high school trying to stay afloat amid the flood of assignments, projects and exams, we may find ourselves reflecting on the carefree, leisure-filled days of summer — the days we were demanded to embrace by our…

By Anika Lippke ‘24, Commentary Editor Image of Barbie (Robbie), Gloria (Ferrera) and others in Act 3 of the movie. Credits to Warner Bros. One day, it might be argued that the most significant cultural contribution of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” was the appearance of Ryan Gosling’s submissive male anthem, “I’m Just Ken,” on Billboard’s Hot…

By Olivia Palker ‘24, Commentary Editor Image of Swift on her Eras Tour, courtesy of RollingStone Taylor Swift is every teenage girl’s craze right now. A popular and prolific female artist, Swift has created an army of fans who sold out Ticketmaster just for the opportunity to hear her voice live at one of the…