Giving Is An Art: BHS’s Revamped Arts Honor Society Transforms Wall To Mural At Sancta Maria

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Photo: Finishing touches being applied on a mural at Sancta Maria Nursing Facility by members of the revamped National Arts Honor Society

Cans of paint laid open in a corner of a community room at Sancta Maria Nursing Facility as seven Belmont High School artists spent a May Friday afternoon – a Friday! – placing the finishing touches on transforming a drab wall into a striking mural within the walls of the Cambridge facility that straddles the Belmont town line.

The cool blue, green, and beige color scheme depicts sunbeams and a breaching whale, transforming the once large blank canvas into a vivid and calming spot for the hospital’s patients within the memory loss unit.

“It’s a lot of work from the artists. But we’re now seeing how the preliminary design is coming along and can see the final work. It’s great to see,” said Alexis Zhang, a BHS sophomore and one of the project leaders.

“This is a great location, a great spot to do it,” said Belmont High arts teacher Milo Milowsky when viewing the work.

The project was devised and created by members of the reemergent National Arts Honor Society, which was reestablished at Belmont HIgh School in 2025. The charter originated 20 years ago but did not generate much support at the time.

“We were really surprised that we didn’t have this [in Belmont] because a lot of surrounding schools, like Lexington and Winchester, have a national arts honor society charter, and we have such a busy arts program,” said Zhang. 

With the help of Milowsky as faculty advisor, the chapter revived student interest, with more than 40 current members. Once the charter was back up and running, the students began performing small activities such as selling caricatures at the Belmont Farmers Market. Soon after the Honor Society’s reemergence, it began looking at larger venues to bring the group’s talents, starting with nearby spaces. The two began just emailing nonprofits, health centers, and public spaces with a proposition: can we create a mural for you?

“We want to use the talents of all the students to uplift the space, as there was not any art here,” said Zhang.

It didn’t take long for the group to receive an answer from Sancta Maria. 

“I learned about this a couple of months ago,” said Chief Executive Officer Alvin Lim. “They approached us and they wanted to do something for the community.” Saying the hospital wanted to support a group that gives back to our community, “[w]e’re like, ‘yeah, why not? Why not support the arts program?'”

“They were completely open, because in the past no one had reached out to them before,” said Zhang. The staff told the students there was available a room used by nursing and care staff and the Alzheimer’s and dementia patients that was ripe for a change.

The project’s design and color select wasn’t literary throwing ideas on the wall. Approximately half of the club’s 40 National Arts Honor Society members contributed to the planning process by providing feedback to the design.

“We didn’t freelance it,” said Zhang, as students formed small work groups to brainstorm concepts. “We had a lot of rough sketches, and then we combined it all on a large sheet of paper. It was during the process the artist focused on the whale “because it symbolizes kind of the energy that we want to convey, like longevity. We also like the ocean and the clouds because of their expansiveness and this ability to fill up the space,” said Zhang.

Milowsky came through for the student by connecting them with Hillside Gardens/Ace Hardware on Brighton Street for donated paint and material. “[Hillside Gardens] was really exciting; they were really welcoming,” said Zhang. “We’re artists and students as well, so we don’t have any of the funding for it.”

For successive Fridays from January to June, the students put in several hours prepping and painting as staff and patients would stop at the windows into the room to watch as the wall metamorphosed from a blank wall to a brilliant seascape.

On June 5, the room was filled with hospital staff and all the students who had ideas and applied paint to celebrate the completion of the Honor Society’s first (“but not last,” said Zhang) endeavor at public art.

For Sancta Maria’s Lin, when he was first presented the project, “[m]y expectation was I wasn’t sure how this would end up.” But then he saw the finished mural “my mind’s blown. This is unbelievable. I couldn’t be more proud of these students. I’m so grateful that they would do this for [Sancta Maria].”

He said the spectrum of colors provides a cheerful image that makes the unit’s dementia and Alzheimer’s patients “really happy. They make them feel calm. It makes them feel like they’re home.”

Long-time educator Milowsky said he hadn’t seen this level of commitment and execution in 15 years. 

“I think it’s great for the community and it brings awareness to the arts. For them to venture out again and do things for the community is remarkable. It shows them how good of artists they are and how they can give back.”

‘This Future Is Yours, And This Future Is Now’ Belmont High Class Of ’26 Graduate 340-ish

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Photo: What’s more traditional at a graduation than plenty of caps sent upwards? 

The final act of the Belmont High School Class of 2026 occurred on the stage of Harris Field on Saturday, June 6, before an audience of parents, siblings, relatives, friends, teachers, and a gaggle of photographers that would not seem out of place at a Hollywood premiere.

The class gathered under partly cloudy skies with temperatures a bit in the uncomfortable range. But any hint of rain was pushed back to that night, allowing students and guests to enjoy the pageantry of graduation. The High School’s Wind Symphony under Alley Lacasse and Combined Chorus conducted by Kaitlin Donovan served as artistic accompaniment. 

The school committee and members of the school administration, led by Superintendent Dr. Jill Geiser and Committee Chair Meghan Moriarty, marched in front of the students before taking their places on the dais. 

Belmont High School Principal Issac Taylor

In his welcoming remarks, Belmont High School Principal Isaac Taylor recalled that in the late 1960s, the technically-based race to the moon and the environmental movement ran in parallel only to see each sidelined for decades. Today, while interplanetary space exploration “is back on the table” as the idea “supporting life in barren environments charges the imagination … and spurs us to think big, shared dreams for humanity.” Yet there is no similar effort to “re-engineer our planet, turn the solar system green.

“Can it be that we can take on the technical and logistic challenges of planting life in air and dusty worlds, yet fall into a nihilistic stupor when it comes to repairing our own beautiful home, even where we have the knowledge and the means to do so?” asked Taylor. 

And while today magical thinking dominates our collective consciousness, a “techno-authoritarian view of the future, devoid of community and empathy, is settling over humanity like obnoxious gas as tensions rise and hope fades,” he said.

“It is darkly fascinating that the same wealthy elite can be so optimistic about our prospect of multi-planetary species with complex space-centered heavy industry, while at the same time denying agency for solving our climate crisis, inequality, and biodiversity dilemma,” he said. 

“But this is not the only future,” said Taylor. In the past four years, the Belmont High Class of 2026 had demonstrated the possibilities of humanity, having stamped their mark upon the new high school campus by inventing and cementing traditions, such as hosting the largest prom in the state, establishing the first mini forest in Belmont, and creating such viral Instagram reels on the class account with two million views.

“Class of 2026, you are graduating at a time when you will see big changes in the world, no matter what. There is no possibility of things staying the same. In an era of grievances of people and defeatism, our greatest resource and our greatest hope are all of you. I know that you have the skills to be engaged citizens, empathetic people, and creative and imaginative thinkers—everything you need to effect change.”

Class President Ignacio ‘Iggy’ Matorras

From a student who was “too scared” to run for student government as a first year to addressing the approximately 370 members of the Class of 2026 as its student government president, Ignacio ‘Iggy’ Matorras remains surprised that someone who was so nervous during his first campaign speech that he read a paragraph twice would be speaking for his classmates.

“Somehow I still won the election, and this role had a tremendous impact on my life,” said Matorras, forcing him to speak and working with others and finding solutions to problems on the fly. 

“Most importantly, it showed me that some of the best opportunities in life come to you when you’re willing to do something that scares you.”

Michelle Chow, School Committee Award for Outstanding Achievement in Scholarship

Recognized for her integrity and outstanding academic activities, Michelle Chow will matriculate this fall at Cornell, studying engineering. 

“A wise man taught me what it means to be part of a thriving community,” Chow told the graduating class. “He brought people together by being present in ordinary ways, showing up with a smile, greeting people, asking how they were doing, laughing with them, talking to them. His seemingly simple actions had a large impact, making everyone feel like they belonged, and so I realized that community is born through the unremarkable moments that become the thread weaving us together.”

The change of the members of the Class of 2026, from being “average freshmen” to graduating seniors, was not simply because “we became more mature, more experienced, and more accustomed to the rhythm of high school.” Rather, it’s because through our day-to-day interactions, we’ve created an extraordinary sense of unity,” Chow said, from shared classes, clubs, field trips, and senior year activities which “weren’t just a source of entertainment, they were also a reminder of having gone through high school as a class rather than simply as individuals.”

“While today marks the end of our journey at BHS, the legacy of our time here will live on through the memory of the distinct and special community we’ve built,” said Chow. “We each have our own stories, our own backgrounds, our own lives, like diverse patches of fabric, but through the time we spent together, we’ve managed to stitch together a beautiful quilt.”

Fiona Rodriguez-Clark, School Committee Award for Outstanding Achievement in Scholarship

Early in the lacrosse season, in which she was a co-captain and senior leader of a very young defensive backline, Fiona Rodriguez-Clark rushed off the pitch just before halftime and sprinted to the high school. It wasn’t any sort of emergency. It was a concert. Rodriguez-Clark was scheduled to play with the school’s orchestra. The question about Rodriguez is what she hasn’t accomplished in her four years at BHS: a perfect 4.33 GPA, National Merit Scholar Letter of Commendation, AP Scholar with Distinction, co-founder and president of the mental health initiative Morgan’s Message, playing cello with the Boston Philharmonic and a three-time All-State musician, a volunteer with her church in serving the unhoused community. She will take her boundless energy to Penn in the fall, studying mathematics.

With so much done on her resume, Rodriguez-Clark said she wished to talk about what the future held for her and her classmates. It’s a question that everyone has been asked for much of their lives—Rodriguez-Clark was four when she saw a future as a dentist – and which has changed up until the current vision of yourself, where the future is “concrete to vague.”

In a clever moment, Rodriguez-Clark asked her classmates to reach under their chairs where she placed slips of paper with occupations and accomplishments such as two-time BAA Marathon wheelchair champ, NASA astronaut, population ecologist for the National Zoo, a nanny, a US Marine major, and Empress of Japan.

Rodriguez-Clark told the assembled that she wasn’t the class Cassandra, rather that each of the 340 slips were people who are Belmont High School graduates.

“The important thing is that at one point in all of these people’s lives, the dream written on that piece of paper before you was only that, a dream. Conjure up that image of your own future again. Like all of us graduating today, these people started with only an idea of what they wanted their futures to look like, but as soon as they walked across this stage, it was time to start making those futures a reality.”

“At this point, you can either accept the futures that other people choose for you, or you can strive to create your own. No one lives your life but you, and only you know what it’s like to be in your shoes at this moment.”

“This future is yours, and this future is now.”

After ‘Insane’ Finale, Belmont High Girls Lacrosse Awaits Waltham In MIAA Tourney Opener Wednesday

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Photo: Belmont High’s senior attack Niamh Lesnik scored the Marauders’ final six goals including the game winner to beat Central Catholic, 13-12, to end its season at 13-5 and a 14 seed in the MIAA Div. 1 Girls’ Lacrosse tournament

After winning what several players deemed an “insane” final game of the season, Belmont High Girls’ Lacrosse hosts the opening game of the 2026 MIAA tournament in a cross border clash against Waltham High on Wednesday, May 27.

The match gets underway at 6 p.m. at Harris Field.

And the most recent contest – a wild 13-12 victory over Central Catholic High of Lawrence – is an indication that Belmont is a team entering the MIAA Div. 1 tourney on a high.

“It was unbelievable,” said Dan O’Brien, Belmont’s Head Coach who has put together three seasons of 13 regular season wins – along with a 14 wins in 2024.

It was no meaningless game as Belmont was hanging on to its 14th placement by 8/10,000th of a point over Beverly in the MIAA Power Rankings entering the final games. The Marauders traveled to the Merrimack Valley to face 13th-ranked Central Catholic on its seniors game. A loss could see Belmont fall possibly two places and draw a stronger opponent in the playoffs. This would be a must win for the Marauders and they performed.

Belmont’s Sydney Mun

“The girls had a lot of energy, a lot of hype for the whole entire game,” said one participant.

It was a particulary tight game which a player discribed as “either we were down one, up one, or we were tied.” Belmont’s defense came through with a pair of backline replacements in attack Reese Bundy and Eva Sen each who “did an incredible job against [the CC] attack,” said O’Brien. Senior Goalie Brooke Hanser contributed saving seven shots, that included her 300th of her career

Speedy defender Lily Cook was O’Brien’s defensive MVP, winning ground balls, making six clears – in which Cook advanced the ball from the defensive to the offensive end – and riding opponants like crazy up the field.

Belmont’s Lily Cook in action against Wilmington

On the offensive side, senior attack Sydney Mun tallied seven points (3 goals, 4 assists) and Nora Goulding came away with a goal and three assists.

Trailing 5-6, it was in the second half when the game went a little loopy. As CC was scoring, they were also picking up yellow penalty cards for serious fouls mostly for dangerous checking, that forced the offending player to sit out for a two-minute penalty. And midway through the third quarter and the score tied at 8-8, CC accumulated its fourth yellow which required the Raiders to play the rest of the game a player down.

With the man advantage, it was time for Belmont’s All-Star to shine, as senior Niamh Lesnik stepped up to take control of the offense. The Fairfield University-bound midfielder scored a natural hat-trick – three consecutive goals – to propel Belmont into a lead.

But Belmont would commit a foul and CC – in front of enthusiastic fans – was able to score three of their own to go up 12-11 going into the final quarter of the regular season.

With a chance to eck out a victory, CC received a fifth yellow – to the utter chagrin of its coach – resulting in two of its players sitting-down, forcing the hosts into full defensive mode attempting to protect its one goal lead.

Despite drawing the attention of the Raiders’ best defender, Lesnik would knot the game up midway through the quarter before taking a pass from Goulding in the final two minutes to take the victory back to Belmont, as Belmont’s co-captain scored eight of Belmont’s 13 goals, securing the 14th seed.

“A great win to take into the tournament,” said O’Brien.

Belmont High Girls’ Rugby Remains Undefeated Overpowering Weymouth, 43-21, In Meeting Of Unbeatens

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Photo: Belmont High Girls’ Mia Salazar scores the Marauders’ fourth try in Belmont’s 43-21 victory over undefeated Weymouth High on May 14, 2026.

It’s just the contest fans of all sports wish for: a late season encounter between the year’s leading teams to determine who’s the top dog entering the playoffs.

This past Thursday, rugby fans were not disappointed when the Weymouth High girl ruggers took on the Belmont High XV in the clash of the final undefeated squads in Massachusetts. At the end of the 70 minutes, the game followed a familiar script as the six-time state champion Marauders pulled away from the visiting Wildcats in the second half, winning 43-21.

Leading Belmont’s offense was its talisman, junior Lock Becca Christensen punched over the try line three times, while the Marauders’ centers and halfbacks shut down the majority of Weymouth’s attacks, with senior fullback Farrah Harris making five solo tackles that waylaid the Wildcats from scoring on the break.

Weymouth came to play, and on its first two passes, Wildcat senior Nikki Moraes found a lane down the left sideline and offloaded to Weymouth’s player of the match, Delaney Barhight, who scored within the first two minutes. 

“I think you have to be appreciative of the fact that [Weymouth} came ready to take it to us, and it forced us to immediately buckle down and get ourselves together and play the kind of rugby we want to be playing,” said Belmont’s Head Coach McCabe.

Belmont would soon be on the front foot, benefiting from the first of several receiving miscues Weymouth committed on the kicks after scores, scoring its first try in the fifth minute from sophomore Eden Hill, followed four minutes later by Christensen who crashed in from 12 meters out to give Belmont an early 12-7 lead.

“Becca Christensen is a powerhouse,” said McCabe. “But she’s more than that. She does the footwork, and that picks up the pace. All those things are making her incredibly hard to take down, and she has the ball handling skills to also offload [the ball], so it’s awesome.”

After taking the ball after the try, Belmont was soon within striking distance at the 22 when senior “8” “Cappy” Detheux grabbed a loose ball from the scrum and scampered down the left sideline to dive into the try zone, upping Belmont’s lead to 19-7 within 16 minutes. 

But the game was far from over. For the remaining 20 minutes in the first half, the Wildcats would hold most of the possession as they took their time grinding out the meters towards the try zone. Weymouth came close at the 24 minute mark only to be pushed over the sideline, and at 29 minutes, Harris took down Weymouth’s Barhight in the open field. 

“Weymouth was playing beautiful possession rugby: no mistakes made in the handling, were immediately over those rucks, and that is exhausting for a defensive side, the same thing we’re always trying to do,” said McCabe. 

Weymouth came close twice before its scrum-half would “tap and go” after a penalty to try to slice Belmont’s advantage to five points, 19-14, four minutes from half-time. Between the halves, McCabe made some substitutions to provide a needed change of pace.

“We saw that we have to elevate our play to hang with good teams for the full 70 [minutes]. And [Belmont] demonstrated the kind of discipline that we want to have as a side, and we appreciate that from the girls. They really rose to the occasion.”

One of the key subs was junior Prop Timikha Mukwazhi who immediately made an impression on her first touch, running for 35 meters deep into Wildcat territory and then anchoring the front of the defense. 

“I always get a pep talk from my coach before I get in, and I just said to myself, ‘I’m going to dominate this game, and I’m going to hit girls today.'” So that’s my mindset, always switched on,” she said.

Belmont would score its fourth try 10 minutes into the half when senior Mia Salazar swept around Weymouth’s end for the try. A few minutes later, Barhight was sent off for 10 minutes for a potentially dangerous tackle, which Belmont took full advantage of. Two minutes later, sophomore right wing CeCe Held finished off an impressive Belmont phase to increase Belmont’s advantage to 31-14. After Weymouth scored shorthanded, Christensen broke through the Weymouth line and barreled 40 meters to set herself up for her third try of the afternoon and seal the victory.

McCabe acknowledged junior scrum-half Serena Field for her presence on the pitch. “She poached the ball; she made tackles when people got through the line. She worked her butt off all day and just kept people moving and anticipated where the ball was going.”

But McCabe said the win was truly a team effort.

“That’s the joy of recognizing that rugby is a game where everyone plays. Everybody is appreciated. We need a ton of different skills, and getting the ball to Tamikha means something different from getting the ball to Farrah. They’re each doing work that gets us down the field; there was a lot of great work to see today.”

Belmont High Girls’ Tennis Jumps To 5-2 Start; Set To Face Three Unbeaten Squads This Week

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Photo: Belmont High’s first year Isha Appadewedula

While Belmont High Head Girls’ Tennis Coach Eileen White said she and her team were eager for spring’s arrival as they were getting ready to make another run in the MIAA tournament.

What White – in her 21st year leading the Marauders – and the team had also hoped for was for some early spring-like weather to prep for the season.

“It doesn’t help when it’s in the 40s and windy for the first month,” said White, who led Belmont to an 11-8 record in 2025 and a first-round home match in the Division 1 tourney.

“I think that’s been a little bit of a transition from training indoors to be like, ‘Oh my, there’s wind, there’s sun, there’s noise’ and things like that. I think everybody, even the girls who have played in the past season and you’ve played inside all winter, it’s an adjustment.”

Despite playing through a frigid early spring weather and enduring twisted ankles that threw the projected lineups over the side, Belmont has compiled a 5-2 record, winning its first three matches by identical 4-1 margins while dropping what White “annoyingly tight” 2-3 encounter to Arlington in blustery, cold conditions.

And just warmer temperatures have arrived, so Belmont will playing three undefeated teams in Westford (4-0), Lexington (5-0), and Winchester (5-0). [Belmont were swept by non-league opponent Westford Ghosts, 5-0, on Monday.]

Heading one of the most cosmopolitan teams at Belmont High – the players speak 13 languages and come from a diverse array of cultures and countries – White has every expectation the team will be playing extra matches after the end of the regular season.

“We’re competing as always. We expect to be hopefully in the state tournament and we expect to be challenging for the Middlesex League,” she said. And that confidence starts with the

“I’m confident our singles, we’ve got great singles,” she said.

The three singles that took the court against Wakefield were two first years and a senior who established themselves as starters. First-year Isha Appadewedula has taken hold of first singles.

“Isha has been amazing, winning all her matches so far this year,” said White. Whether Appadewedula stays at one or moves to two depending on how she does in the Challenge Matches, “she’s a great addition no matter what,” said White.

Senior Giselle Fond did not play her usual second singles place after rolling her ankle in a early season practice. She finally returned to the court in first doubles with the only returning varsity doubles player, senior Avery Cal. “This might be a nice way for Fond to ease in playing a little doubles. Don’t have to run around so much in doubles,” said White.

Malina Lorentan is Belmont’s second first year to crack into the varsity squad.

“I gave her a chance [on singles] and she’s jumped all over it,” White said of the native of Switzerland, After losing a tight one against the SpyPonders, Lorentan impressived White with her ability to step up against Wakefield.

While having established a solid three in singles, White said she’s “still struggling a little bit to find the right combination” to send out for doubles. “We were spoiled in the past few seasons. We had really good doubles players. Last year we just got so many points from them,” said White.

“We lost three out of the four players of our starting doubles so that’s where we’re trying to recalibrate a little bit,” said White.

Senior Cal, who had the same partner for the previous two seasons, has been in the process of feeling out a new partner “so that’s been like the experiment.” Against Wakefield, White teamed her up with fellow senior Fond while Grace Harrington and Eve Whitmer were in at second doubles.

While it will be challenging to repeat as a top 16 team in the power rankings, White said “we’re excited just to get a few good practices in and a few games here and there to get a solid squad out there in each match.”

Belmont High Southpaw Pair No-Hits Everett In ‘Home’ Opener, First No-No In 26 Seasons

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Photo: A happy Belmont High baseball team celebrates with pitchers Craig Deane and Kyle Ksander who combined for the Marauders first no-hitter since 2000.

As far back as November, Belmont High School’s long time baseball manager Jim Brown was talking highly – in his iconic dead pan manner – of the pitching staff he would be sending out to the mound in the spring.

“They’ve been prepping really well in the off-season. Yeah, four who I think are going to impress,” said “Brownie.”

It only took the first game of the campaign to prove Brown’s forecast right as a pair of those arms went out and put up a marker for the rest of the season as senior southpaws Craig Deane and Kyle Ksander combined to no hit Everett, 6-0, in the season opener on Friday, April 3.

Pitching under the lights, Ksander – a 6 foot, 175 lb. returning varsity lefty whose fast ball tops out at 85 mph – struck out eight in four innings while the multi-positional Deane K’d seven in his three innings of action to share Belmont’s first no-hitter in 26 years.

The season’s “home” opener was played at Watertown High School’s turf field due to the soggy conditions at Brendan Grant Field.

The no-hit shutout is a promising start for Belmont coming off a 9-11 ’25 campaign where it got pushed around against “mehe” opposition to miss the MIAA tourney.

After being on the road against Melrose (Monday) and Reading (Wednesday), Belmont will be at the Grant on Friday, April 10 vs Watertown. First pitch is at 4:15 p.m.

‘Don’t Be The Bunny’ That Misses ‘Urinetown,’ BHS Performing Arts Company’s Spring Musical

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Photo: Caldwell B. Caldwell (Bennett Sprague) singing about the dilemmas of being a rabbit in a modern world in “Don’t be the Bunny” from BHS PAC’s Spring Musical Urinetown.

URINETOWN
MUSIC AND LYRICS BY MARK HOLLMANN, 
TONY AWARD-WINNING BOOK AND LYRICS BY GREG KOTIS​

PERFORMANCES
Thursday, March 12 at 7 p.m.
Friday, March 13 at 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 14 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m​.

TICKET INFO
ADULTS: $15; STUDENTS/CHILDREN: $10; BHS Students: $5; Thursday and Sat Matinee, $10

BUY YOUR TICKETS HERE

In a drought-stricken future, all private toilets have been banned and citizens must pay to use public restrooms controlled by a powerful corporation. When an ordinary young man named Bobby Strong decides he’s had enough, he sparks a rebellion that turns his world upside down. 

The Tony Award-winning Urinetown the Musical is a hilarious and smart satire that pokes fun at musical theater while telling a surprisingly heartfelt story about love, power and standing up for what you believe in. Featuring a wide range of musical styles, big ensemble numbers [especially the end of Act 1] and a cast of bold, eccentric characters, the show is both wildly entertaining and unexpectedly thought-provoking.

This production features a large cast of Belmont High School student actors, a student-run technical crew, and a live pit band. From designing and building the world of the play to bringing its many unforgettable characters to life, the show highlights the incredible range of talent and dedication within the Belmont High School PAC.

Ezra Flam, Urinetown producer and director, said “[p]icking a show is always about looking at the overall sense of who our current students are, especially our 11th and 12th graders and what they bring into the show. And we have a lot of kids, especially in the senior class this year, who are improvisers and comedians, really funny kids. So we were looking for a show that had characters that had some of that silliness and fun that they can bring to it.”

Bringing back the musical first staged by BHS-PAC a decade ago, Flam said it’s nice looking at this production and see how the show has changed.

“Its got some things to say now that are different from when we did it 10 years ago, or when the show was written in 2001. The script reads a little differently than it did in the past. I don’t know ‘fun’ is the right word, more rewarding and interesting.”

This production carries a punch with “lots of kids” on stage, going through some complex dance numbers for how many actors are involved.

“The Act One finale is such a fantastic example of that movement. The character Officer Lockstock [William Sattler] says the act one finale is a big song and dance number for the entire cast, and it really is,” said Flam. “It’s that moment in the show where you have one group of kids singing and doing a set of choreography, while a different group is performing different lyrics and different choreography, and finally a different group is doing different lyrics and a completely different choreography. All this is happening when two leads are up on a piece of scenery that’s spinning and doing different lyrics and different moves, all at the same time. It nods to One Day More, the act one finale of Les Mis.”

This production has the advantage of it being performed in a space that everyone is quite use to.

“All of these kids have been doing shows in this theater for their entire high school career. And so I think last year was the year when really hit our stride on we’ve all been in this building. We’ve all been working here for four years, five years now, and we know what we can do, how to make the tech do all the things we wanted to do. This is a maturity of the theater space and of the program.”

Production Team

DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Ezra Flam
THEATER & MEDIA PRODUCTION FACILITATOR: John Parker
BPS DIRECTOR OF VISUAL & PERFORMING ARTS: Arto Asadoorian

CAST

OFFICER LOCKSTOCK ………………………..…………William Sattler
LITTLE SALLY …………………………………………………….Trudie Innis
BOBBY STRONG…………………………………………….Calvin Barnes
HOPE CLADWELL………………………………………..Rayna Thomas
MS. PENNYWISE …………………………………………Caroline Lafkas
MR. CLADWELL…………………………….………….Bennett Sprague
OFFICER BARREL ………………………………………Quincy Crockett
SENATOR FIPP………………………………………………….Talia Siebert
MR. McQUEEN……………………………………………….Ben Guglietta
OLD MAN STRONG………………………………………..Joseph Barry
JOSEPHINE STRONG…………………….……… Teagan Imberman
HOT BLADES HARRY…………………….…………….. Malachi Smith
BECKY TWO-SHOES…………………….… Lou Aubanel-Battilana
SOUPY SUE……………………………………………………Grace Sullivan
TINY TOM………………………………………………..Quinton Hashemi
ROBBY THE STOCKFISH………………………… Sebastian Beattie

Belmont High Teams Start Tournament Run With A Pair At Home

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Photo: Senior captain Sophia McClendon, here celebrating her reaching the 1,000 point milestone, leads the Marauders against Needham in the first round of the MIAA Div. 1 playoffs

The playoffs have begun, and Belmont Hoops and Hockey are in the mix.

Boys’ Basketball: at home vs Chelmsford, Tuesday, Feb. 24

The Marauders (12-8) had spent the entire season below the playoff line in the MIAA Power Rankings – teams have to be ranked 32nd or higher to get the automatic in. 

But Belmont demonstrated a tournament-like toughness in its final regular season game – a blowout of Reading – and winning the two games in the Spartan Classic at St. Mary’s saw them crossing the 32-ranking barrier to close the season 31st.

Belmont, under first-year head coach Dan Burns, will host a play-in game with Chelmsford (11-9, 34th ranked) with the tipoff at 6 p.m. Belmont will rely on being physical under the basket with big man junior center Braiden Dargon, while the offense will be steered through seniors Charles Tingos and Andre Chavushian.

The winners will meet second-ranked Andover.

Girls’ Ice Hockey: at home vs. Shrewsbury, Wednesday, Feb. 25

The Marauders (11-6-3) have been a dependable team this season, taking care of the teams they should be defeating while playing tough against their betters (an exciting 2-2 tie against Hingham). But the season has been one where the team has, at times, struggled to find a go-to scoring option, especially after losing forward Alexcia Fici to an injury. 

Rising as high as 13 in the power rankings just a few weeks ago, Belmont’s lack of offense showed up in the final two games, a 3-1 loss to Winchester and a disappointing 3-0 shutout by Waltham. The season’s final power ranking saw the Marauders ‘barely holding on to the 16th seed, the final spot for a first-round home game.

Belmont hosts a good Shrewsbury squad (10-7-3) on Wednesday, Feb. 25, with the faceoff at 7 p.m. The Marauders will rely on their first “O” line made up of the two Mackenzies (senior Clarke and first-year Tierney) and sophomore Mia Smith, while Belmont’s impressive group of defenders – Elsie Lakin-Schultz, Martha Dimas, Kate Townsend, and Ava Keefe – will front rookie goalie Elinor Dorn to keep the Marauders in the game.

Boys’ Ice Hockey: away vs Pope Francis High (Springfield), Wednesday, Feb. 25.

It’s been a season for Belmont Hockey (5-15-2) that can only be considered a rough one, starting with a 6-0 shutout to Catholic Memorial, the top-ranked team this season. After losing nine seniors and three standout players moving to private programs, it’s been an extensive rebuilding season for a team that last season was the top public school team in the state. 

Belmont will travel nearly across the state to take on 7th-seed Pope Francis (14-5-3) in Springfield. There will be a familiar opponent as the Marauders meet the Cardinals twice in February: a 5-2 defeat on the 11th and an 8-1 loss in a postseason tournament. 

Girls’ Basketball: away vs Needham High, Friday, Feb. 27. 

A young team led by three seniors, the 24th-ranked Marauders had a successful season as the players learned first-year head coach Antonia Macklin’s system based on an in-your-face defense and patient offense. 

The Marauders (13-7) travel to Needham to meet the 9th-ranked Rockets (14-6) with tip-off at 5 p.m. on Friday. Senior captain Sophia McClendon (who reached the 1,000-point plateau this season) and sophomore guard Sarah Geller – with a pair of 20-point games – will lead the offense, with rebounding magnet junior Rebecca Christensen and twins, senior captains Leah and Erin Attridge, bolstering the defense.

Getting The Job Done: Belmont Boys’ BBball Reach Tourament And Takes Home Post-Season Silverware

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Photo: Belmont High’s 25-26 seniors (from left) Charles Tingos, Eli Pierre, Andre Chavushian, Eli Akins, Weston Zalewski, and Tyler Raubenheimer

When push came to shove, the Belmont High Boys’ Basketball propped open the door just wide enough to squeeze into the MIAA Division 1 tourney. The Marauders left it late, winning the final game of the regular season, a beat down of Reading, 66-35, to reach the 10-win mark that secured an away play-in game.

“I knew when I took the job, that they had some good players,” said Dan Burns, the Marauders’ first year coach. “I also was aware that it was going to take some time for us to get where need to be. So the goal for us was to get 10 wins, and we got it. It feels great. I’m really happy for the kids.”

Then as if the burden of making the post-season was a weight the team couldn’t wait to remove, Belmont went out and brought home post-season silverware, capturing the Division 2 winner’s trophy from the Spartan Classic at St. Mary’s in Lynn. The Marauders defeated Lowell Catholic, 68-51, on Sunday and then took down 15-4 Lincoln/Sudbury, 57-53, via a late three-point dagger-to-the-heart from senior captain Andre Chavugian (17 points) with a clutch 3-pointer down the stretch.

“It was a great overall team win. Everybody played,” said Burns. “I thought the seniors really came out and carried us right from the start we haven’t had a really good start in a long time.”

Nearly ever game this season has been a struggle for the Marauders as the team learned Burn’s new system throughout the season. Sporting a power ranking of 37, five spaces from an automatic placement, Belmont walked onto the court on Seniors Night needing a victory to move on. As fortune would have it, the Rockets have had an uncharacteristic poor season sporting a 3-16 record.

One issue the team was battling all season was falling behind early in games.

“We haven’t had a really good start in a long time, and we’re usually six or seven down going into the second. Tonight we actually went up seven (9-2) early. That’s a credit to the seniors and their leadership,” said Burns.

Belmont got out in front early and just kept scoring. With a solid defense, the Marauders raced through the first quarter up 18-8, led by senior Charles Tingos with a pair of threes and a run away lay up. Belmont’s second quarter resembled Secretariat at Belmont, throwing down 21 while holding the Rockets to six to blow the doors off of the game to lead 38-14, by the half. Junior co-captain Braiden Dargon scored 12 of his 15 points. in the quarter dominating the post on both ends of the court.

With a good lead on hand, Burns was allowed to look down his bench and give those players time on the floor. Senior guard Eli Akins provided the night’s highlight when after initially blowing a dunk, stole the ball and completed the slam to the delight of the students section. The Maruaders didn’t let up in the fourth scoring 18 to take their 10th of the season.

“It was a great team win. [It] gets us to the tournament that was our goal all year. So great to accomplish that,” said Burns.

For Burns, the last three wins gives a boost to the team’s belief that it can do some damage in the tournament.

I think we have a lot of size, and we’re pretty physical, and, we tend to beat up teams inside with our rebounding and just our physicality is a problem for most teams.”

“We’ve had a couple heartbreaking losses, and we’ve had some great wins, too. And part of that is just learning how to win,” said Burns.

Belmont High Boys’, Girls’ Hockey Enters Final Week Coming Off Big Wins At Woburn

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Photo: Belmont’s Mackenzie Tierney vs Reading

When push came to shove on Saturday, Feb. 7, it was the Belmont High hockey program that shouldered past host Woburn in a pair of late season matches giving a boost to the Marauders’ playoff hopes as the state Division 1 tournament looms only a fortnight away.

Belmont High’s Girls’ continued its best stretch of the season with five wins and a tie in its last six games with a convincing 3-1 away victory over 10th-ranked Woburn in the midst of Saturday’s snowfall.

It was Belmont’s Mackenzie Bookends – first year Mackenzie Tierney and senior Mackenzie Clarke – who tallied Saturday with the youngster collecting the first goal in the first period from the point while the veteran put home an empty netter with 30 seconds remaining in the third to go along with her first period backhander to seal the deal.

Along with sophomore Mia Smith – whose second goal scored in the final minute salvaged a 2-2 against Reading the previous Saturday – the “Macs” have stepped up in February after Belmont’s top scoring threat, sophomore Alexcia Fici, was lost to a season-ending injury.

Belmont High’s Mia Smith scoring her second goal in 2-2 tie with Reading.

The Marauders defensive lineup – led by junior Elsie Larkin-Schlutz, first years Amelia Long and Kate Townsend and senior Martha Dimas – has been stellar in front of goalie Elinor Dorn who has replaced consenus All-Star Jil Costa. The sophomore put up 43 minutes of shut out goaltending against Woburn which was on a seven-game winning streak.

With the weekend win, Belmont (10-4-3) sweeps the season series over the Tanners with its second 3-1 victory, the first coming at home in early January. The Marauders inflicted the only league losses to Woburn which came into the game 10th in the MIAA Division 1 Power Rankings. Belmont was 15th in the all important rankings, the penultimate place that secures a home game in the first round of the playoffs.

Belmont’s final three games of the season includes its final regular season home game at 5 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 11 vs. Lexington, a Valentine’s Day love match against Winchester in Woburn at 2 p.m., and a season ending romp with Waltham at Bentley University on Tuesday, Feb. 17, at 1:45 p.m.

It’s been a trying season for Belmont High Boys’ Hockey. Last year’s squad was one of the state’s elite, sixth in the final MIAA power rankings, with 15 wins (15-6-1), shutting out the state’s top-ranked team (Pope Francis) while winning the Ed Burns Coffee Pot tournament. A three overtime loss to league rivals Winchester in the Sweet 16 of the MIAA tournament was a shocker but the team appeared ready to reload for the 2025-6 campaign.

But the loss of nine seniors and the transfer of the team’s three lynchpin players raised a large question mark for the season. The answer to that quiry was that it would be a tough rebuilding year for the Marauders. Playing in one of the state’s most competitive leagues – three teams in the top ten of their power rankings – with a very difficult non-league schedule, the Marauders have been in games where they could not match up in talent or bulk.

“Do you a weight room we could use?” joked Belmont Head Coach Tim Foley between periods of one of the matches where his players were pushed around.

The result has been a 3-12-2 record with the team sitting in 28th in the Power Rankings, percariously close to the 32nd ranking that marks the final automatic playoff place. What Belmont needed in the final stretch of the season would be a big time win.

And that is exactly what the team did, swamping 6th-ranked (in Division 2) Woburn, 6-3, at the O’Brien rink, as junior defender John Connolly racked up the hat trick and forward Michael Rowan took home three points with his own brace while adding an assist in the team’s performance of the year.

The three-goal margin gave the Marauders the maximum points avaliable as they seek to secure a playoff spot. Belmont – which is coming off a 2-0 win on Sunday against Braintree in the consolation game of the Ed Burns Coffee Pot tournament – will meet 8th-ranked Pope Francis in the final home game on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 7:15 p.m. and Winchester on Valentines Day in Woburn with a noon start. The team finishes its season playing in West Springfield in the Cardinal Classic on Tuesday, Feb. 17 and Wednesday, Feb. 18.