![Troy Hoyt finishes the Boston Marathon, running for the Hoyt Foundation. T. Hoyt is the son of Hoyt Foundation CEO Russ Hoyt.
“[Running a marathon] might seem like a big thing, when it’s presented to you at first, but if you break it up and just keep telling yourself, “Yes, you can,” you can start chipping away at it. And before you know it, you’ll be running the whole 26 miles, and you won’t even think twice about it.” T. Hoyt said.](https://waylandstudentpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/C36E8761-1CBB-452E-9DF2-543EF7B1095E_1_105_c.jpeg)
In the weekly series, “In Case You Missed It,” News Editor Marissa Mendoza summarizes stories from the past week with links to the corresponding WSPN article.
News:
WSPN’s Jeffery Zhang and Staff Reporters Kyle Zhang, Karis Tam and Ainsley Jay reported on Massachusetts reevaluating graduation requirements without standardized testing.
“Following last year’s decision to eliminate the MCAS graduation mandate, school districts are now setting their own standards for demonstrating academic mastery,” J. Zhang, K. Zhang, Tam and Jay wrote.
Features:
Co-Editor Maddie Zajac, WSPN’s Edge Wheeler and Staff Reporter Alex Evangelista looked into the new concussion testing software, Sway. WSPN’s Mischa Lee and Bella Schreiber spotlighted WHS teaching assistant and musician, Joshua Goodman. Co-Editor-in-Chief Reva Datar, C0-Editor Penelope Biddle and Staff Reporter Joey Fay visited a reenactment of the Battles of Lexington and Concord to celebrate its 250th anniversary.
Meanwhile, WSPN’s Sofia Ciciarelli and Marissa Mendoza, Staff Reporter Vanessa Taxiarchis and Schreiber covered the impacts and what to do when facing domestic violence situations. Zajac, Wheeler and Evangelista wrote about the uprising of teens using ZYN products. Staff Reporters Molly Bergeron and Kate Goodman looked into how a repeated lack of sleep impacts teenagers.
Sports:
Editor Chloe Zilembo recapped the girls varsity lacrosse team’s game against Acton-Boxborough High School. Co-Editor-in-Chief Sasha Libenzon, WSPN’s Olivia Green and Staff Reporters Nina Gandhi and Annabelle Hage wrote about the history and impact of the annual Boston Marathon.
Opinion:
Staff Reporter Emily Wyner and Green reflected on the Trump Administration‘s use of power. WSPN’s editorial board discussed their thoughts on the recent actions of the current presidential administration and the future of the first amendment.
Multimedia:
WSPN’s Carolina Sdoia and Jane Tardif produced a video on seniors reflecting on their college application process as this year’s college admissions cycle comes to an end. Libenzon photographed the Wayland-Weston boys and girls varsity crew teams preparing for their spring races.
Broadcast:
WSPN’s Melina Barris, Staff Reporter Jessi Dretler and Sdoia broke down Wayland’s news in Weekly Breakdown Episode 118.
![After Massachusetts voted to remove the MCAS graduation requirement, policy makers are reshaping graduation standards. "The top-line understanding is that we’ve moved away from a system that we’ve known for about 24 years, which is one where every school district in Massachusetts had wide latitude to decide what their graduation requirements were in terms of coursework or other experiences, but every single student, in order to earn a diploma, needed to pass the MCAS in one English, one math and one science assessment," Massachusetts Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler said. "We’ve moved away from that now, by virtue of the outcome of [the MCAS] ballot question in November, to a place where communities can still decide what their graduation requirements are, but there’s no requirement for students to pass the MCAS.”](https://waylandstudentpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/img_3067_720.png)
