A counselor may not seem like someone that can help you to a student’s eye but in reality they can help you get through many obstacles as you face whether it's something personal, about your dreads, or even your next chapter in life after high school. Your counselor can help you throughout your obstacles but it seems like they don't get the enough recognition they deserve. 

One of them is Mrs. Sidie who is a counselor at BHS. Mrs. Sidie attended Drew University and her major was psychology, eventually she went to Kean University for her counseling masters. After she graduated Mrs. Sidie got the inspiration to become a counselor from her family, her family has worked with schools before and one of her grandfather was actually a counselor. This gave Mrs. Sidie the inspiration to become a counselor.

Mrs. Sidie is very friendly and respectful towards her students, she always tries to be fair with the students and build a good relationship with them. Mrs. Sidie's favorite thing about being a counselor is interacting with the students and watching them grow. She is very proud of her students to see them grow into the next chapter of their lives and helping them figure out what they may want to do and seeing them enjoy it.  One thing that Mrs.Sidie hopes students take when they graduate from BHS or leave her office is “ It's not about where you start, it's about where you go.” Even though things may not seem to be going well right at that moment you can always change and work to make things better. Fun fact, if Mrs.Sidie wasn't a counselor and was a teacher at a school she would be an English teacher, she actually got her minor in English in college and enjoys reading and writing. 

Mrs. Sidie is very into sports, she enjoys watching soccer, football, and baseball. When it comes to football she loves to watch the New York Giants and for baseball she loves to watch the New York Mets. Mrs.Sidie actually used to play soccer back in college, her and her family are very into the sport and now her kids play soccer as well and enjoys watching them play. If Mrs. Sidie wasn't a counselor, she would be a soccer coach. In her free time Mrs. Sidie loves to workout and travel, recently she also watched this show which is also a book called “We Were Liars.” Mrs. Sidie's comfort/go-to snacks are gummy sweets like Swedish fish, gummy bears, and many more. She also likes to collect these crochet fruits and vegetables that have little positive sayings on them. 

The most rewarding part of Mrs. Sidie's job is senior year for her students and they are figuring out their next chapter in life.  Mrs. Sidie wants students to know that they can rely on their counselors about anything, whether its colleges or personal stuff. Your counselor is always there for you. Mrs. Sidie deserves more recognition; she always cares about her students and wants to help them succeed for the next chapter of their lives. She is there for her students even when they are going through a tuff time you can always count on MrsSidie to help.

One of the most well-known teachers at BHS, here comes the Big T! Touhey was inspired to teach by Pat Rosal, a poet and teacher for Touhey; he took one of Pat Rosal’s classes and loved it so much that he left the program he was in to pursue teaching at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, studying comparative literature and a major in education. Touhey has been a teacher for over 17 years and has worked at Bloomfield High School for more than 15 of those years, a stark example of his extensive loyalty to his profession and workplace. 

Touhey finds his passion in the freedom of literature: “You can go any direction you want in literature.” Unlike a set-in-stone curriculum, his English teachings can be much broader and more tailored, which further complements his teaching style of adapting his curriculum based on his class. “That every student is a little better than when I got them.” Touhey hopes every student can take something from his class, no matter how small. 

He’s most proud of his extensive 15-year experience at BHS, but if Touhey had never become an English teacher, he would have been a math teacher. Math was Touhey’s best subject in high school, but English was what Pat Rosal was teaching. Over these 15 years, you can only imagine how much his students have changed. Touhey has always felt that the biggest change at BHS has been technology; it’s harder to teach students who can easily look up answers on their phones. For Touhey, the most rewarding part of teaching is that “it keeps you young.”  

Whenever Touhey isn’t teaching, he spends time with his daughter whenever he has free time. Fun fact: if Touhey hadn’t met Pat Rosal, he would have pursued a career as a doctor. Another interesting fact is that Touhey is actually a songwriter; he recently released a full album of music! Additionally, his go-to meal is bread and butter. 

If there’s one thing to take away from this teacher feature, it’s that “the world is a crazy place, so let’s spend a little more time caring for one another.” Jason Touhey, 2025

The Mock Trial Club is one of the many clubs at Bloomfield High School. Mock Trial in a nutshell is examining a court case as a team, gathering all of the important information, and performing the case like an actual trial in front of a real judge! 

Every year the Mock Trial team gets a new case and they even compete against other schools in the Essex County Court House. The Mock Trial Club is run by Ms.Schulze. Ms.Schulze is the school's Criminal Justice teacher (juniors and seniors only), and she is also in charge of the FEA club (Future Educators Associates). This club does not have any social media platforms, so all information is held at the hands of Ms.Schulze. 

These Mock Trials usually take place in January of each school year. This gives our team plenty of time to prepare for defense and prosecution. Depending on which day and which case is being performed, the team studies both defense and prosecution to perform in front of the judge. Meetings are typically held every 2-3 weeks. 

This gives each team member enough time to go through each testimony of the case, and enough time to get together and discuss proper options. So first the case information gets looked at and studied individually. This happens optionally with or without teammates. Just come prepared and ready to discuss for each meeting! 

Students aren’t picked out for the Mock Trial Team by hand, this is an open club. ALL of the work done in this club is voluntary. Students only come to Mock Trial if they want to be there to be a part of the trials! You may ask, what do the students get or learn from this club? Well, several of our students at BHS want to study Law or Criminal Justice. This club is perfect for them to get a proper understanding of how the justice and legal system works. 

Even for students who don’t want to become a lawyer, they gain basic knowledge about America’s justice system. Mock Trials main and only goal this year is to win against and compete against other schools participating in these trials in the Essex Country Court House. Regardless if they win or not, friendship, knowledge, and great work ethic is gained from the Mock Trial Club!

If you’re looking to join a close knit group at BHS, FCCLA (Family, Career, and Community Leaders of America) is the perfect place to go. Run by Ms.Hernandez, it’s a club for students who are potentially interested in pursuing family/consumer science, or who are interested in fashion. 

They do various community service for the school, and its main event is an overnight field trip to a statewide leadership conference in the spring where students create things such as crochet items or baked goods (depending on the categories that year) to be ranked. There’s also a fashion show at this conference, where students can show off their garments that they’ve created. The FCCLA club aims to get high placements at this conference. They also hope to host some kind of fashion show of their own this year at one of the art shows. 

There are no previous requirements needed to join, it’s open to anyone who is interested! It meets every Wednesday activity period in room A209, and the average commitment time for students is 1-3 hours per week. The biggest benefit to joining is getting to meet a bunch of cool new people and being able to attend the leadership conference, where you can learn leadership skills and potentially get your work recognized. You can find out more about the club on its instagram page @bloomfield_fccla.

Are you interested in dancing? Do you enjoy having fun and being part of a community? Then the Bengalettes Club is just for you! The Bengalettes or BHS Majorette-Step Team is a club found here at Bloomfield High School dedicated to creating a nurturing and family-like environment. 

Their mission is to build a strong lifelong sisterhood based on respect and encouragement. In this club, students will learn how to improve their dancing skills while also being in a safe and empowering space. 

The Bengalettes perform at many events throughout the school year. They mainly perform at school sporting events as well as other school events such as BOTC(Battle of the Classes) and pep rallies. The Bengalettes meet from Monday-Thursday at 2:45-4:00pm. 

Each member of the club must commit as much time as they can to this club in order to be the best dancer they can be. To join this club you must try out on October 8th, 2025. If you get added to the team you have to get a form signed by your doctor to make sure you are able to participate in this club.

 The biggest benefit of being a member in this club is the community that you will experience and the support you will be given. This year the Bengalettes are hoping to perform more at the sporting events while maintaining a supportive environment.

Have you ever heard of Flight 571? In 1972, a Uruguayan plane crashed in the Andes Mountains in Argentina. Of the 45 passengers on board only 16 survived. Most of the survivors were part of a Rugby team and were on their way to competition. In order to survive the freezing cold with no food, they unfortunately had to resort to cannibalism. 

This is the story that inspired the Showtime series Yellowjackets. The show follows a New Jersey girls' soccer team whose plane crashes in 1996 and they become stranded in the wilderness for 19 months. Not only does it capture their time in the wilderness, but also the consequences of the event in their adult lives. The Thriller drama was created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson and its first season premiered on Showtime in 2021. 

The show is full of mystery and horror aspects, and maybe some supernatural elements. The cast is full of many well-known actors such as Melanie Lynskey, Christina Ricci, Ella Purnell, Sophie Thatcher, and many many more. The show is also an excellent showcase of women in different multitudes. It explores characters of all different races, disabilities, and sexualities. However, along with all this, it can be gorey at times and may not be for everyone. 

The third season of Yellowjackets premiered February 14th, 2025 and new episodes will be released every Friday with a total of 10 episodes by April. If you are interested in this show you can watch all 3 seasons on Paramount+ or the first season on Netflix. 

     Coming to the Bloomfield High School stage this fall is As You Like It, a romantic comedy written by Willam Shakespeare. This show will be the play of the 2024-2025 session. Three separate shows are put on through the school year. 

     The first show put on in the school year is the fall play. This show is always a straight play, meaning that it is a show relying on spoken dialogue to relay the message of the show instead of music. The plays every year are either a comedy, tragedy, drama, or mystery. 

     Rehearsal’s for the shows start in the middle of September. The shows take place in late November. In the winter BHS features our second show of the year, the musical. The Winter show is always a musical. The musical is the most popular show at the highschool. Posters for the show are put up all over town and advertisements are in the window of every shop and classroom in town. 

     The students in this show work extremely hard on these shows. They stay after school every day and sometimes on the weekends to make the shows the best they possibly can. Many hours of hard work is put into these shows. Along with the actors credit must also be given to the stage crew. The people in the stage crew are the backbone of these operations. They stay behind the scenes and make sure everything is running smoothly. 

     The final show of the year closing off the 2024-2025 session is the spring show. This show is a compilation put together by Skyler Doemling. This show is a great opportunity for people trying out theater for the first time and for people showcasing their talents. These shows have a general message of positivity and bringing people together. These shows are meant to inspire people and uplift our community.

     Many people worldwide struggle with problems at home, and that’s difficult, but you know what can be harder? Balancing all those home problems while still trying to keep up with school.

School can feel overwhelming when there’s so much going on outside of it. Even getting up and going to school in the morning can be challenging, not to mention the pressure of piling assignments on top of everything else. As Lou Holtz once said, “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” Breaking assignments into smaller tasks can make them more manageable, rather than tackling them all at once. This approach helps prevent that overwhelming feeling from worsening as the workload appears to pile up. Small steps can still lead to progress and help achieve the necessary goals.

Utilizing teachers and counseling staff is crucial. It may seem uncomfortable to share personal struggles with someone outside the situation, but no one can help lighten the workload or provide support if they don’t know there’s a problem. Directly informing a teacher is one option, but reaching out to a counselor can be helpful if that feels overwhelming. As Barack Obama put it, “Asking for help is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength.” They can assist in communicating with teachers without going into too much detail, which can result in extra time, exemptions, or needed support. Having that conversation can be very beneficial for anyone struggling.

In addition to handling responsibilities, it’s essential to take care of oneself. Finding time for relaxation, such as hanging out with friends, doing enjoyable activities, or simply taking time to think, can provide a break from stress. It’s not necessary to push through everything at once. Depending on the situation, it may be okay to take a step back from school and focus on personal well-being and home life. Ultimately, mental health is the most important factor. Anne Lamott reminds us, “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” Even when things are tough at home and school responsibilities seem overwhelming, an unhealthy mindset won’t help. Improving mental health and adopting a better mindset can make it easier to manage both school and personal challenges

It can be very hard to find new music these days, so here is a list of bands (and some solo artists) to check out. Most states have three bands listed along with their genres, but some were pretty difficult to search for and only have one or two.

1. Alabama

   • Dead Fingers - alternative country

   • Doc Dailey & Magnolia Devil - indie-folk

   • Fire Mountain - folk

2. Alaska

   • 36 Crazyfists - metalcore

   • Cousin Curtiss - blues + bluegrass

   • Divides - pop rock

3. Arizona

   • Jimmy Eat World - alternative rock + pop punk

   • The Refreshments - rock

   • Gin Blossoms - alternative rock

4. Arkansas

   • Evanescence - alternative metal + industrial rock + nu metal 

   • American Princes - indie rock

   • The Paper Hearts - indie rock

5. California

   • Haim - soft rock + pop rock

   • Dead Man’s Bones - indie + folk rock

   • The Story So Far - pop punk + rock

6. Colorado

   • The Lumineers - folk rock

   • The Fray - pop rock + alternative rock

   • 3OH!3 - electropop

7. Connecticut

   • Have a Nice Life - pop + rock

   • Carpenters - melodic pop

8. Delaware

   • The Delaware Destroyers - Chicago blues + rock

   • The Crash Motive - alternative

   • Spindrift - alternative rock

9. Florida

   • Yellowcard - pop punk + alternative rock

   • New Found Glory - pop punk

   • Ethel Cain - ambient + alternative rock

10. Georgia

    • R.E.M - rock + folk

    • OutKast - hip-hop + rap

    • TLC - R&B

11. Hawaii

    • Crimson Apple - alternative pop

12. Idaho

    • Built to Spill - indie rock

13. Illinois

    • The Smashing Pumpkins - alternative rock

    • Veruca Salt - alternative rock + grunge

    • Disturbed - heavy metal + alternative metal + nu metal

14. Indiana

    • Adrianne Lenker - indie folk

15. Iowa

    • Slipknot - nu metal + heavy metal

16. Kansas

    • Kansas - progressive rock

17. Kentucky

    • Cage the Elephant - indie rock

18. Louisiana

    • Neutral Milk Hotel - indie rock + fold

19. Maine

    • Arborea - indie-rock + ambient

20. Maryland

    • All Time Low - pop punk + alternative rock

    • Good Charlotte - pop-punk

21. Massachusetts

    • Dazey and the Scouts - indie punk

    • Driveways - pop-punk

22. Michigan

    • D12 - hip-hop + rap

    • The White Stripes - garage rock + indie rock

    • Hot Mulligan - alternative rock + indie

23. Minnesota

    • Owl City - indie + electronic pop

    • Babes in Toyland - rock + punk

    • Motion City Soundtrack - pop-punk

24. Mississippi

    • The Band Perry - country + pop + rock

25. Missouri

    • The Get Up Kids - rock

26. Montana

    • The Love Darts - rock

    • Dinwoody - indie

    • Hey, ILY - alternative + indie

27. Nebraska

    • Bright Eyes - indie rock

    • Elliott Smith - indie rock

28. Nevada

    • Panic! At The Disco - pop-punk + rock

    • Imagine Dragons - pop rock

29. New Hampshire

    • Aerosmith - rock

    • The Bruisers - alternative + indie

30. New Jersey

    • See Plus - noisy indie pop

    • Pinegrove - alternative country + rock

    • The Front Bottoms - midwest emo

31. New Mexico

    • The Shins - indie rock

    • TV Girl - indie pop

32. New York

    • The Pretty Reckless - hard rock + post-grunge

    • Charly Bliss - bubblegrunge

    • Big Thief - indie folk

33. North Carolina

    • Rainbow Kitten Surprise - alternative rock + indie

34. North Dakota

    • disappear forever - indie rock

    • Pass the Flask - midwest bummer punk

    • Vanity Plate - power pop

35. Ohio

    • Nine Inch Nails - alternative rock + industrial rock + nu metal

    • The National - indie rock

    • Hawthorne Heights - post-hardcore + screamo + indie rock

36. Oklahoma

    • Ben Quad - alternative rock

    • All American Rejects - rock + pop-punk

37. Oregon

    • The Decemberists - indie rock

38. Pennsylvania

    • Alex G - indie rock

    • Slaughter Beach, Dog - indie rock

    • Modern Baseball - indie rock + melodic punk

39. Rhode Island

    • Velvet Crush - power pop

    • Stone Nobles - rock

    • Belly - alternative rock

40. South Carolina

    • Hootie & the Blowfish - rock + blues

41. South Dakota

    • Diaphane - indie rock + country

    • The Dead Marthas - grunge

    • The Carrion Crawlers - garage punk

42. Tennessee

    • Bully - rock + grunge + punk rock + indie rock

    • Soccer Mommy - indie rock

    • Free Throw - punk rock + pop punk

43. Texas

    • Flyleaf - alternative metal + alternative rock

    • The Chicks (Dixie Chicks) - country

44. Utah

    • The Used - alternative rock + pop-punk + post-hardcore

    • Neon Trees - pop rock + electropop

45. Vermont

    • Brunch - rock

    • Thus Love - post-punk

    • Rough Francis - punk rock + garage rock

46. Virginia

    • Lamb of God - metal + groove metal

    • Lucy Dacus - indie + singer/songwriter

47. Washington

    • Bikini Kill - riot grrrl + feminist punk

    • Mommy Long Legs - brat punk

    • Death Cab for Cutie - indie rock + indie pop

48. West Virginia

    • Karma to Burn - rock + acid rock

49. Wisconsin

    • Bon Iver - indie folk

    • Slow Pulp - alternative rock + indie pop

    • Big Red Machine - indie fold

50. Wyoming

    • SGRNY - rock

    • Harpoon, the whale - indie rock

Spotifiy’s 2023 wrapped dropped this week and everyone is thrilled. Lots of people consider this event to be their favorite “holiday”. Spotify wrapped is when Spotify takes all your listened-to music from this year, gives you information about your listening, and puts it in a colorful fun slideshow. You are given your top songs, artists, genres, and minutes listened. Your top songs are put into a playlist for you to save! Some unique things about Spotify wrapped are their listener personalities, personal messages, and the latest edition a “place that listened like you”.

This year’s Spotify wrapped was on its own page entirely. Which includes lots of other content to look at. Like merch you could get from your top artists with discounts or exclusive items. The DJ AI is centered around your wrapped data. There are also playlists showing off the top songs in the USA and songs from the top artists in the USA. You can also see the global top songs and artists of 2023. 

Listening Personalities:

This year Spotify had 12 personalities based on the kind of music you listened to with illustrations, as opposed to last year's 16 personalities. One of the personalities was “The Vampire” which was described as “a little… darkness.” and that you listen to “emotional, atmospheric music more than most.”

Here are 11 other personalities with their given descriptions:

• Alchemist: You create your own playlist more than other listeners do

• Time Traveler: You travel back in time and listen to songs on repeat, again and again

• Cyclops: You’re loyal and devoted. You like to focus on one genre

• Luminary: You play light, upbeat music more than others

• Mastermind: You like to study a wide range of different genres

• Roboticist: You like to hit play, kick back, and let the clever algorithms work their magic, track after track

• Shapeshifter: One moment you’re head over heels for an artist. The next, you’ve moved on. 

• Collector: Your taste is sublime. You listen mostly to your own playlist

• Hunter: You’re always searching for new favorites. You skip tracks more than others

• Fanatic: Once you pick a favorite, you never let go. Your top artist makes up more than a third of your listening. 

• Hypnotist: You like to play albums all the way through, from the opening track to the final note

Personal Messages:

Incorporated last year, viewers now get personal messages from their top artists of this year! Some also got personal messages from podcasters. These messages are short thanks from your favorite artists appreciating you for streaming their music. A funny personal message from Flo Rida who sang “Whistle” displayed a current meme from YouTube of Josh Hutcherson with his song behind it. 

A Place that listened like you: 

A new stranger edition to Spotify wrapped was a section that showed somewhere that supposedly listened like you called “Sound Towns”. It has been discovered that many of the popular sound towns were college campuses like Burlington, VT; Cambridge, MA; and Berkeley, CA. Many users on social media have matched those towns with sexual orientations, as many queer people have gotten those three sound towns. One user on Twitter saying “spotify is trying to make a gay commune in berkley, a lesbian commune in burlington, and a bisexual commune in cambridge”. Spotify added to the joke with a tweet saying “hey besties” tagging the three cities.

Many people have become self-aware of the declining attention span of themselves and others, specifically younger people. On May 13th of 2015, Christopher Hooton with The Independent, published an article titled "Our attention span is now less than that of a goldfish, Microsoft studies find.” It was stated that, “In 2000 the average attention span was 12 seconds, but this has now fallen to eight. The goldfish is believed to be able to maintain a solid nine.” Time Magazine, released on May 14th of 2015, released an article with the title, You Now Have a Shorter Attention Span Than a Goldfish. 

After reading many articles on this topic, many researchers have mentioned or asked questions regarding one’s health, education, and how the possible overuse of Tik-tok has been influencing depression, anxiety, self-harm, stress and memory loss. Because we are constantly consuming short-form content–whether it be 15 second tiktoks or 300 character tweets–we are constantly surrounded by distractions and advertisements. There is always something new on the screens, and people have gotten used to it. A lot of elements on the internet have been specifically designed to keep you attached to the screen.

The impact of technology, human attention span and well-being is a topic that deserves further observation and awareness. Technology was created as an aid to humans, and instead, it has become a necessity. The constant notifications, the information and entertainment overload, the targeted advertisements, all play a significant role in our dwindling attention span.

The McDonald’s located on 425 Broad Street, Bloomfield, NJ, has always been a popular place for students attending the nearby schools to grab food after having class all day, and hang out with friends. At the end of the summer, they finished renovating the seating area/lobby, giving it a more sleek, modern look. As the school year began, the after school rush came back to the McDonald’s, as well as many other local restaurants and convenience stores. However, this year things have been noticeably different. 

In the past, during the after school rush, McDonalds would get crowded, and that is expected when an estimated 2,000 teenagers are dismissed from school less than a mile away. The rush would typically last for about one to one and a half hours after the high school dismissal time, which is roughly 3 to 4:30 pm, or 12:30 to 2 pm on a half day. Most people would show up, order food, sit and eat with their group of friends, and then leave. During the peak of the afterschool rush, groups of teenagers would be simultaneously ordering, waiting for their food, and sitting down to eat their meals. It was an organized chaos that always worked itself out once everyone got their food.

These past few weeks, the employees at McDonald’s kiboshed the ecosystem that would be cultivated by teenagers in a hungered stupor during these hours of the day. It was always a very social atmosphere. During these hours, employees have been locking the doors, and only letting customers in by group when the people already inside would leave. On multiple occasions when the line to get in would be longer than usual, the police have been called on teenagers simply just wanting to get through the front door. When customers are eventually let in, they are only allowed to order and wait for their food inside, then are required to leave by strict request of the employees. There is a lot of unutilized space, as well as open seating that is not being let up for use. The only group of people that is allowed to sit and spend time inside are the elderly that frequent this McDonalds on a regular basis. 

I have been to this McDonalds numerous times while this type of ageism was actively being displayed. When I asked about the reason for doing this, one of the employees simply stated that “they” (the high school students), only come in here and trash the place. Considering that most people I see coming and going typically throw out their trash on their way out, or take their leftovers with them, I’m not sure that is the case. Therefore, this statement does not seem to be the entire reason as to why they do not want groups of high school students inside of the McDonalds. As of now, this is the only answer given by the employees for the reason they are locking their doors, so we can only assume that is the true reason until proven otherwise.

R&B 

•  Good Good. USHER/SUMMER WALKER/21 SAVAGE. mega/gamma.

• Still Believe In Love f/Vado. MARY J. BLIGE. ...

• Made For Me. MUNI LONG. Def Jam.

• Back To Your Place. OCTOBER LONDON. ---

• On My Mama. VICTORIA MONÉT. Lovett Music/RCA.

• Through The Night. MAETA. Roc Nation.

• Love Takes Me Higher. JOSH X. ---

• Summer. KENYA VAUN. 300 Ent. 

Hip hop

•  All My Life (feat. J. Cole) Lil Durk.

• Nails. Saint Levant.

• What It Is (Block Boy) [feat. Kodak Black] Doechii.

• STAYING ALIVE (feat. Drake & Lil Baby) DJ Khaled.

• Mockingbird. Eminem.

• Super Freaky Girl. Nicki Minaj.

• Doja. Central Cee.

• Vegas (From the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack ELVIS) Doja Cat.