91̽��

The question was a daunting one: Could there be a way to repair a congenital defect in a child’s heart that would grow with the patient without requiring additional invasive surgeries?

To answer it, Dr. Jeff Karp, this year’s science assembly speaker, and his lab team broke down the problem—the repair would have to be flexible and adhesive, to accommodate the movement and growth of a beating heart and to stay put despite the blood flow. So they looked to nature, investigating how other living things have evolved over time to thrive in similar environments.

“Everything natural that exists today is here because it solved seemingly insurmountable problems,” Karp told 91̽�� students in March. Karp is a professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and he has more than 100 issued or pending patents.

For students, the few days before and continuing into the March break were unsettled. John Matters ’22, a talented violinist, was supposed to perform with the Wellesley Symphony after winning a spot in a competition last fall. He was also supposed to tour with 91̽��’s Chamber Orchestra and continue rehearsals with the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. After everything was canceled, Matters looked for another way to connect musically.

“In any big event, music can bring unique power to people, but how could I provide for the community with music?” Matters asked. Then Music Department Chair Adrian Anantawan shared a video of himself playing Bach in a split-screen video and John said he knew what he wanted to do.

“Although members of the 91̽�� community were unable to meet each other in person, we could still stay in contact and play music together in a special way,” he said. “We could let everyone know that although we are separated physically, we can use music to connect together and stay strong.”

Margot Becker’s ’20 weekly crossword puzzle has become a fun and challenging Friday must-do for many students and adults arounds campus. Individuals and teams of students rush to complete the challenging 15×15 published on the inside back page of The 91̽�� Paper. Becker gives out prizes for a variety of categories and e-mails out the names of everyone who completes the puzzle correctly.

“I wanted it to be that if you send it in and it’s right, you get a reward of some kind, regardless of your speed,” said Becker. “Last week, I started a ‘beautiful completion’ prize for the best looking puzzles (see photos). My whole aim is to encourage everyone to do these, have a good time and get something out of it.”

Becker said she began making crosswords last year on her own, first just sketching some and then making 5×5 puzzles, which are called “minis.” Using a software program called Phil, she progressed to the “midi” size and then to the more difficult 15×15 format, which is the size of The New York Times weekday crossword.

Two visiting Sengalese artists spent Monday morning with students who study French for an in-house field trip. Zeinixx, a graffiti artist and poet, and Karismatik Diksa, a hip-hop producer and rapper, are both Global Artists in Residence at Arts For Humanity Voices in Boston. The event was sponsored by 91̽��’s Francine L. Bustin Memorial Fund.

The morning began with a screening of compilations from the “Democracy In Dakar” documentary, which showed how the vibrant music and art scene in the Sengalese city inspired a youth voting movement. Then Zeinixx and Diska spoke in French about the work they do and answered students’ questions in both French and English.

Emma Bradley ’20 and Kiran Biddinger ’20 wanted to perform a “complicated” lab experiment for the Honors Biology class they took as juniors. One year later, their findings have been published in a scientific journal.

“It was really difficult to figure out what we were going to do,” Bradley said. “We were in the lab all the time, for weeks straight.”

Their report, “Temperatures of 20°C produce increased net primary production in Chlorella sp.” was accepted by the Journal of Emerging Investigators, a monthly publication that features the work of middle school, high school, and college students. The work must be sponsored by a faculty member—the duo’s sponsor was Science Department Chair Julie Seplaki—and undergo an extensive editing process before it can be published.

The robotics team is on a roll this year, with three robots qualifying for the U.S. Open Robotics Championship in Iowa in April. Under the leadership of team captains Diego Domenig ’20, Avery Miller ’20, and Tony Tao ’20, the team participates in VEX Robotics, which challenges students to design and build robots that compete against others in a small arena where the robots complete certain tasks for points.

Freshman Ryan Shue, who drives one of the robots, says, “It’s great to work with people who have the same interests as you. And it’s a fun way to apply that interest in and knowledge of engineering.”

The Winter Dance Concert represents the best mix of creativity and physical prowess at 91̽��, says Nyla Sams ’20, a dancer and choreographer in this year’s performance.

“It combines music, culture, athleticism, and beautiful visuals into two entertaining hours,” she says. “Also, everyone is in dance concert! You have die-hard theater kids and football players on the same stage. Everyone is there to support one another and have fun, so the energy is just amazing.”

Respectful disagreement is essential in a functional democracy, Massachusetts Republican Party Chairman Jim Lyons told students.

“The best way that we can do what is best for our citizens is to have open and frank discussions about what we need to do,” said Mr. Lyons, who spoke at the Conservative Club assembly. “We can disagree and respect one another. We don’t have to be angry about the things we believe in, but we should stand up for what we believe in.”

A “remarkable” number of student writers and artists were recognized in the Massachusetts Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, the nation’s longest-running competition to identify creative talent among students. Thirty-one students earned 43 writing honors and 19 students earned 34 art honors. Last week, Ms. Baker and Mr. Nobles announced the winners at assembly.

In writing, Anne Kwok ’21 received numerous awards in poetry and fiction including three Gold Keys, one Silver Key, and one Honorable Mention. For her poem “Aubade For My Sister,” she also received an American Voices and Visions Medal, the highest regional Scholastic honor.

“It is one of the more abstract poems I’ve written,” said Anne, who currently takes the creative writing course and the poetry half course. “I’m experimenting with new forms of writing and exploring different poetry forms.”

What is the absolute likelihood for a continuous random variable to equal an exact value?

As they listened to their peers present their group projects, students in emily bargar’s Accelerated Calculus class agreed that the answer is zero. This was just one facet of Phoebe Mugford ’21 and Allison Reilly’s’ ’20 impressive presentation titled “Probability Density Functions and Radioactive Decay.” After an overview and examples of probability density functions, the two presented their findings on the probabilities on how particular atoms will decay at given times.

Ms. bargar said all of the projects had to involve something about integrals, using their textbook as a starting point for ideas. For their project, Noah Lippa ’22, John Matters ’22 and Charlie Volpe ’20 used integrals to find the center of mass of shapes. They built three shapes—a 2D plate, a pyramid shape, and a complex 3D shape—and then found their center of mass, showing the resulting formulas as well as photos of the shapes balanced on the top of a standing whiteboard marker.