Dear Readers, 

 

As the Editor and the Art Editor of The Network, we are excited to share with you our winter issue.

 

Each issue we create focuses on a theme developed from current events. We want to inform our readers about relevant events, provoke them to think, and move them to act.

 

As we discussed current events—the increasingly widespread use of artificial intelligence; the changing demographics of the world society with India’s 1.43 billion people causing it to be ranked as the world’s most populous nation; the October 7, 2024, attack on Israel by Hamas leading Israel to declare war for the first time in fifty years; and NASA’s declaring the summer of 2023 to be the warmest on record since 1880—we started asking questions. 

 

Will AI help solve societal problems by supporting scientific breakthroughs or will AI increase social inequities through mass unemployment? How does demography affect society? Is there a demographic dividend or a payment? How are societies defined by borders? How do societies defend themselves? And are human actions making society unlivable?  

 

This discussion and these questions led us to see that the world’s current events are all linked by the theme of societies and to ask, “Is society an illusion?”

 

Our feature article, “Ideologies for Dummies,” is an analytical essay by Bolaji Agbelusi (’26). Agbelusi defines the term ideologies and considers their important role in societies. 

 

Next, read a short story titled “If Only They Knew” about an alternative society written by Sophia Charania (’27). Consider “America the Beautiful,” a poem written by Fiona Poth (’24), and reflect on how United States’ society needs to change. Think about the ways in which societies are influenced and defined by belief systems with an analytical essay titled “Reflections on Belief Systems” written by Coralie Ahrenskeaff (’24).

   ​

Also, please enjoy the striking and moving artwork featured throughout the issue. We are excited that in this issue we welcome an artist from the Avenues New York campus, Mya Cahana ('24). Julia Hristov (’24) explores the idea of the geographic location of a society and its history through an oil painting of Santorini, and Zoë Johnson (’24) reminds us through a series of moving portraits that our societies are composed of individuals.  

​

Discover the Connect section. This section highlights student organizations that you can join across the Avenues school ecosystem.

​

We hope that this issue will inspire more students to participate in The Network. This journal is a student publication, and its success depends on student participation. As the student editors, we hope that it will grow into something far greater than we ever could have imagined.

​

If you would like to contribute to the next issue, please email thenetwork@avenues.org. We cannot wait to see and read what you are thinking about. Work created inside and outside the classroom is welcome. Submissions are open to all students in grades seven through twelve.

​

We would like to give a special thank you to our faculty advisors, Dr. Rebecca Conklin and Ms. Linda Kimbrell, for their unfaltering belief in this publication and untiring support of our efforts. We would also like to thank Ms. Amy Rosenberg, our first faculty advisor, for believing in the idea of a literary journal four years ago. In addition, we want to thank Ms. Maggie Wollner, Head of School, for her support of this publication. Finally, we want to thank all the students who have contributed to this edition and their parents for believing in Avenues Online.

​​

We hope you enjoy this issue. May the pages of this publication engage, enlighten, and inform.
 

​

Editorially Yours,

Fiona Poth (’24), Editor, and Julia Hristov (’24), Art Editor