![The Wayland Police Department have issued a warning on the rise of scammers during the holiday season. “Hang up [the phone]. if you get a text and you do not know who it's from, just delete it. Don't click on any links, nothing,” Wayland police chief Edward Burman said. “Every single one of them is a scam.”](https://waylandstudentpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/img_0954_720-e1734676255647.jpg)
![WHS’s Connect Program ran its annual holiday gift drive to fulfill the wishlist of children enrolled in the Dorchester based non-profit daycare organization, the Yawkey Center. This drive brought the town together and impacted both the students in Connect, as well as the greater Wayland community. “You could see how helpful the town was and how our community came together and wanted to help out a community that wasn't our own [and] kids who were less fortunate than we were,” senior and Connect Program member Jordynn Lee said.](https://waylandstudentpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/screenshot_2024-12-20_at_12.21.24___pm_720-e1734734228474.png)
![The Boy Scouts will be selling trees on Fridays from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays noon to 6 p.m. until they sell out.
“This event is one of the things that [the Boy Scouts] get to have a direct impact on the community,” freshman Alex Macleod said.](https://waylandstudentpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Screenshot-2024-12-11-at-8.38.38 AM.png)
On Thursday, May 23 to Saturday, May 25, qualifying athletes from Wayland High School will compete in the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) Division IV outdoor track and field championship at Westfield State University. In order to qualify for divisionals, athletes have to get certain times to compete. In field events, pole vaulters, high jumpers, long jumpers and throwers have to get certain distances.
Junior Caitlin Heus-Smith will be running in the 200 meter dash event, as well as jumping in the long jump and triple jump events. This will be Heus-Smith’s third time competing at the outdoor track and field divisional meet.
“It’s always nice to see that you make the qualifying standard, and because a lot of people [don’t], it’s hard to make the standard [in divisionals] sometimes,” junior Caitlin Heus-Smith said.
Captain senior Elena Mente was the MIAA Division IV pole vaulting champion last year, and she hopes to repeat her success. Mente will continue doing track and field at Wesleyan University alongside captain senior Anika Frutman.
“I don’t train like the rest of the track teams because I only go to three practices a week [to practice hurdling],” Mente said.”I [also] do one practice at Patriot Vaulting Club.”
In order for a track and field athlete to make it to the MIAA Meet of Champions, they would have to win divisionals or have their personal record (PR) in the top 24 overall in Massachusetts.
“It’s a sport all about personal gain,” captain senior Sam Brooks said. “It’s just about what you can achieve. PRs [and] season records. Track and field is just overall fun. [Throwing] takes a lot of skill, time and strength.”
During practice, all athletes begin with an 800 meter warm up run. Due to the different events in track, athletes split off into groups to practice their event. Practice is usually separated by distance runners, triple and long jumpers, high jumpers, sprinters, hurdlers and throwers. The outdoor track season is entering its final weeks, where only certain athletes who qualified for divisionals or all-states will continue to compete.
“I think [qualifying for divisionals] is a good accomplishment,” Brooks said. “It’s something a lot of athletes want to achieve. We go for it for self improvement.”
![Wayland High School Class of 2019 alum Devin Wong is the new assistant coach of Harvard University Nordic Ski Team. "I’m excited to be a part of a new team and coaching staff am motivated to learn from [head coach] Cate Brams and grow as a coach and wax tech," Wong said.](https://waylandstudentpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/09-27-24-NSKI-Wong-Announcement-1920x1080-1-e1730466291327-1200x704.jpg)
![Junior Benjamin Hammond solos "Twist and Shout" by The Beatles as part of the T-Tones performance. "[Twist and Shout] is one of my favorite songs, and with the amount of vocal harmony it has I figured it would be good for A Capella," Hammond said. "[Twist and Shout] has pretty simple rhythms and awesome energy, which fits the vibe of the T-Tones. I arranged the song basically identical to how it is written, because I think the guitar riff, bass riff and the harmonies are all excellent as well as easy to sing."](https://waylandstudentpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/8E057B61-9507-4115-811F-93F1FB6F7EB4_1_105_c.jpg)
