![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)
![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)
![From left to right, junior Ben Pyhtila, sophomores Aadith Charry and Owen Chislett play their cello instruments. Junior Jubin Kim also plays the cello and has been playing the instrument since third grade. "I think that [the cello] is a good balance between a high instrument versus a low instrument, and I just really like the rich sound that it makes," Kim said.](https://waylandstudentpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_6540-1200x800.jpg)
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:
Co-Editor-in-Chief Jeffery Zhang shared the schedule for all AP exams, as well as the requirements for WHS students taking these tests. Staff Reporters Emily Wyner and Mack Young briefed the youth lacrosse event, “W Day.”
Features:
Staff Reporter Annabel Orcutt wrote about senior Tristen Chow choosing passion over prestige during her college decisions.
Opinion:
Staff Reporter Kate Goodman reflected on the importance of Holocaust education within schools.
A&E:
Staff Reporter Abigail Bergeron interviewed April’s Fashionista of the Month, freshman Kaitlyn Dijulia.
Broadcast:
Co-Editors Carolina Sdoia and Jane Tardif and Staff Reporter Jessi Dretler broke down Wayland’s news in the Weekly Breakdown: Episode 119.
![On Tuesday April 1, Boston Globe journalist and Boston University professor David Abel answered questions about his award-winning film “Inundation District.” The film delved into the risks of extreme floods the Seaport region of Boston is facing amidst commercial development. Abel was inspired by his climate studies that revealed grave statistics. “I have covered report after report after report with projections about how our seas are likely to rise over the coming decades,” Abel said. “And it would seem, as I would get each new report, that the worst case projections would only get [more] dire. That left me feeling like this was a really significant story that needs to be told in ways that are hard to just tell in print.”](https://waylandstudentpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Screenshot-2025-04-06-at-9.40.04 PM-e1743990080418-1200x800.png)
