Feb. 2012 Globe

83.5

GLOBE

NEWSMAGAZINE FEBRUARY 2012

y r t s u d n I

The n o i t a c u d 24 E g p f o

GLOBE Volume 83 . Issue 5

CONTENTS

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10 20 33 39 46

UPFRONT

PACING YOURSELF

FEATURES

PERMANENT MESSAGES

PLAY BY PLAY

REMEMBERING A LEGACY

REVIEW

AN OSCARS PREVIEW

Q&A

FRACTIONS WITH FREESE

SNEAK PEEK 06 Paul Lisker

UPFRONT

FINDING THEIR FOOTING [students perform in the musical Footloose]

[this month’s Panorama captures Señor Johnson addressing the audience during his WOW speech]

get creative.

THE GLOBE CAPTION CONTEST

LAST MONTH’S WINNER “At least my hair looks good!”

-- Sam Horn (12)

SUBMIT YOUR AMUSING CAPTION AT CHSGLOBE.COM

2011-2012 STAFF Editor in Chief Noah Eby Senior Managing Editors Laura Bleeke Jackie Leong Zach Praiss Section Editors Jake Bernstein Caitlin Kropp Jocelyn Lee Meredith McMahon Sarah Tait Editors David Androphy

Lauren Friedman Caroline Greenberg Jack Holds Jake Lee Shuyang Li Eudora Olsen Katherine Ren Parker Schultz Shiori Tomatsu Anna Williams Arya Yadama Distribution Editor Jonathan Shumway Advertising Editor Dylan Schultz

Web Editors Appi Sharma Dan Zheng Sri Panth Copy Editor Maria Massad Graphics Editor Dee Luo Photo Editor Paul Lisker Reporters Peter Baugh Abraham Bluestone

Rachel Bluestone Chris Cho Neil Docherty Emma Ehll-Welply Isaac Fish Jeffrey Friedman Aidan Hayward Jessica Jancose Jon Knohl Nina Murov Steven Paster Charlotte Reed Adam Schultz Peter Shumway Richard Simon Christopher Sleckman Steven Zou

Photographers Claire Bliss Madeleine Fleming Lewis Grant Kate Harrison Lauren Indivino Meredith Joseph Christa Kopp Laura Kratcha Allison Peipert Regine Rosas Thalia Sass Dana Schwartz Andrea Stiffelman Rebecca Stiffelman Emma Veirod

Artists Taylor Gold Nicole Indivino Nia Charrington Jasmine Raskas Zoe Curry Business Manager David Behrend Adviser Erin Castellano

The Globe Newsmagazine exists to inform, entertain, persuade, and represent the student voice at CHS. All content decisions are made by the student editorial staff, and the Globe is an entirely self-funded publication. Not every story that our reporters write is published in the print newsmagazine. Visit www.chsglobe.com for additional stories and photos, and for more information about the Globe itself. For more information about advertising and subscriptions, please contact our office: Clayton High School Globe 1 Mark Twain Circle Clayton, MO 63105 (314) 854-6668 Fax: 854-6734 globe@clayton.k12.mo.us

4

MASTHEAD

EDITOR’S LETTER

stand•ard•i•za•tion

to bring conformity to a system through the application of certain requirements, goals, or objectives.

T

hirteen years ago I lined up in the playground of Captain Elementary, impatiently waiting to be led inside for my first day of kindergarten. Since then I have attended Wydown and CHS, had dozens of amazing teachers, and been given opportunities that shaped my childhood.

I am thankful to the District for giving me the education that all kids deserve and not many receive, and I hope that Clayton will forever continue to offer this.

I look back at my years in the District and I am amazed at what I learned. However, as I compare my own middle and elementary school experiences to those of current young students, I see a significant change in the system of education in the School District of Clayton.

As the nation cracks down on education and learning becomes more standardized and datadriven, it is hard for Clayton to not follow suit.

As learning becomes more focused on the test scores and rankings it easy for classes to lose their unique curriculums, which have for de-

cades set Clayton apart from other school districts.

Standardization and horizontal alignment have become the “it” words in the last decade.

And as the nation is pressured to do better against other countries on international standardized tests, this feeling percolates down to the state and city levels.

As journalists we seek to document this fundamental shift toward standardization in the District from a neutral and comprehensive perspective. We have interviewed and met with teachers from various departments - some long-time, some new, and some retired - as well as current and former administrators from the District.

However, some teachers do not feel comfortable expressing their opinions as an identified source. Several preferred to remain anonymous, perhaps due to an increased value on their jobs because of the economy or tensions between central office and faculty. In the end, we hope that our work in this issue may provide an im-

petus for open discussion among and between teachers and administrators.

We recognize that there is more than one side to this issue, and we hope to bring to light the complexities that are at the core of this change. We do not wish to cast a positive or negative light on the District.

We love Clayton for all it stands for, but we have seen a change over the years - in many ways a change for the better, and in others a change for the worse. Nonetheless, we feel it is our responsibility as the staff of the Globe Newsmagazine to report on this new industry of education.

LAURA BLEEKE SENIOR MANAGING EDITOR EDITOR’S LETTER

5

PANORAMA

PEACE OF WISDOM Spanish teacher Micah Johnson takes a second to relax and meditate during his Words of Wisdom (WOW) presentation on Jan. 25 while discussing the influence of the Buddhist teachings in his life. In his presentation, Johnson demonstrated that all people must overcome their ideaological differences through love, compassion, and understanding. WOW is a new speaker series at CHS where students invite teachers to give a 30 minute presentation on any topic of their choice to ultimately convey their words of wisdom.

Photograph by Regine Rosas

LD R WO TAGE S

UPFRONT

WASHINGTON D.C. President Obama delivered his State of the Union address.

BRAZIL

A former Brazilian politician was sentenced to 103 years in prison for ordering his aides to kill a fellow member of Congress in 1998. His aim was to take her place in the Chamber of Deputies.

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EGYPT Egypt’s first democratically elected parliament opened session.

SOUTH SUDAN South Sudan, newly independent from Sudan, is dealing with tension between it and its former rulers. It began shutting down its oil production due to a dispute with Sudan.

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ITALY The Costa Concordia cruise ship sunk off the coast of Italy. The captain of the ship will likely be charged with manslaughter and abandoning ship. Environmental groups fear that the fuel will lead to an environmental disaster.

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CHINA Across China, people celebrated the Lunar New Year.

SPOTLIGHT ON: CHINESE NEW YEAR On Jan. 23, dragons danced in the streets, fireworks colored the sky, and some 200 million people flocked to train stations across China to travel home for the Chinese Lunar New Year.

A new website was created this year to allow travelers to reserve seats in advance. However, the website’s numerous crashes and technical difficulties caused much frustration among users and among the many who do not have easy Internet access.

John Lok/Seattle Times/MCT

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UPFRONT

Clayton Summer Academy will be housed at Clayton High School alongside SummerQuest.

Enrichment courses such as computer programming and film making are currently under review as possible non-credit, fee-based courses. Thus far, the District will offer ACT Prep and Field Research as a fee-based enrichment program.

Great Start CHS will be offered for 30 total students, and will address the need for support of identified 8th to 9th grade transitioning students.

Academic support and credit recovery classes will assist struggling students in need of course remediation and credit recovery.

Summer school classes will include Personal Finance offered for 66 total students, American government for 80 students, and Physical Education for 100 students.

SUMMER SCHOOL SHAKEUP

Dee Luo

The Board of Education changes summer school programs with finances in mind.

KATHERINE REN

I

n the midst of a poor economy, many school districts in the area including Ladue, Rockwood, Parkway and Francis Howell, are looking to cut large chunks from their respective budgets. In addition, those that rely heavily on State and Federal funding are scrambling to pass tax increases.

Clayton receives more than 80 percent of its funding from local property taxes, and thus as a district, it is not as affected by fluctuations in State funding. According to the District’s preliminary budget framework, “Except for a tax increase, new construction is the primary means to increase our tax revenue. Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much new construction in Clayton lately. This leaves us with a situation where our revenues are essentially

flat yet our expenses are constantly increasing, a situation that isn’t sustainable long term.” As the District will be in its second year of deficit spending, the Board of Education (BOE) members are looking to develop a robust resource allocation process that will improve the allocation of the District’s staff and monetary resources.

As a result, the BOE has made some significant changes to what is offered in the summer to Clayton students, K-12.  UPFRONT

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WHAT THE BEEP?

The IS Fitness Pacer test has generated student outcry.

SARAH TAIT

T

he Pacer. It’s a simple word that, for most, brings back a flood of undesirable memories from middle school and elementary school. As of this year, however, the Pacer is no longer a thing of the past.

The Pacer was used as part of the independent study fitness curriculum for the first time this year.

“The Pacer was introduced this year because several years ago we started going through our curriculum design as an entire district as it related to vertical and horizontal alignment with the elementary schools, middle school, and high school,” IS Fitness teacher Samuel Horrell said. “One of the things we found was we didn’t have a common assessment across our curriculums, and we didn’t have a midterm assessment for IS Fitness, so we thought it was a natural fit there.”

In short, the Pacer is a test of cardiovascular fitness. Students are lined up at one end of a gym and must run to the other side of the gym in a given length of time, marked by beeps. As the Pacer goes on, the length of time allotted gets shorter and shorter.

Though the Pacer seems a fairly standard test, many thought the way it was carried out was unfair. The Pacer is a flat grade based solely on how far any student gets into the test. Senior Erica Eisenberg maintains that no one in her class earned above a C grade.

“The people in my class were all pretty in shape, so if none of us were able to get above a C, that shows how hard the grading was,” Eisenberg said.

Horrell agrees that most students were unable to perform in the A to B range.

“I’d say the average grade was somewhere around a C to a B-,” Horrell said. “I think people didn’t know what to expect or they forgot how

BY THE NUMBERS 10

UPFRONT

Coach Horrell times a student during the Pacer test.

Dana Schwartz

intense the Pacer was from when they were in elementary school or middle school.”

Other students maintain that a single test cannot possibly demonstrate the overall level of someone’s fitness.

“I don’t think testing once is necessarily fair because not everyone is at their best ability at that time and not everyone can sprint well,” junior Alex Trivundza said. “I don’t think the test would necessarily show if you had been working out or not.”

Students protested further at the idea of grading based on physical fitness instead of progress. Given the difficulty of the Pacer, it would be impossible to score well if one wasn’t in shape.

“At the beginning and end, we do a mile test, so that really tracks progress versus the Pacer, which is just a sporadic testing,” senior Taylor Gold said.

Eisenberg agrees that the Pacer is very different in nature than the other tests of physical fitness that are a part of the IS Fitness curriculum. At the beginning of the semester, students run the mile, do pushups and sit-ups, and make

goals for themselves. At the end of the semester, students retest to see if they have met those goals.

“All of the tests for IS Fitness would be hard for someone who doesn’t work out regularly, but the tests you take at the beginning and end of the semester are just about reaching goals,” Eisenberg said. “It’s less about grading you on your ability and more about making goals to get healthier.”

The Pacer test makes up 100 points of the total IS Fitness grade, which is 1800 points. In the end, Horrell says, the Pacer only has the ability to change a student’s grade by a few percentage points. Still, though the class is difficult, Horrell maintains if students work hard they will receive a satisfactory grade.

“The ultimate goal of IS Fitness is to help [students] become independent with their physical fitness,” Horrell said. “It’s an opportunity to treat them as if it’s a college course and they have to carry out the duties and responsibilities on their own. It’s for students who are serious about their fitness and who are dedicated to working hard. It’s not for everyone.” 

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2.5

High school seniors who mistakenly received an early admission acceptance message from Vassar College.

Hours later that the students received another message saying that they had not, in fact, been admitted.

365 SNAPSHOTS Senior Sara Garfinkel embarks on a Facebook mission.

LAUREN FRIEDMAN

W

hile many people use Facebook as a way to communicate with others, some people are beginning to use the social network as a way to document their daily lives.

Throughout 2011, senior Sara Garfinkel participated in a Facebook challenge called “Project 365,” during which she accepted the difficult task of posting a status summarizing her day every day for an entire year.

Garfinkel heard about the challenge from one of her camp friends, who completed it about two years ago. After reading several of her friend’s statuses, Garfinkel thought it was a great idea and decided to try it out herself.

At the beginning of the project, Garfinkel was not only posting statuses every day but also posting a “picture of the day” as well.

“As the project went on, it got harder and harder to post a picture every day,” Garfinkel said. “By the end of it, I was taking the pictures every day, but I posted them about every week or so.”

The picture descriptions were the easiest for Garfinkel to come up with because they simply described her day and the events that occurred.

While Garfinkel does not have a favorite status in particular, perhaps because there are so many, she loves to go back and reread some of them to remind herself of the past year. One of them, a picture and description of a college book that her parents asked her to read, remind her of the stresses of her college search.

Garfinkel enjoys reading this status, as she

100,000

now knows where she will be attending college in the fall, and it reminds her of the progress she has made.

Garfinkel thinks that the challenge may be one of the hardest tasks that she has ever completed. Although there were many days when she thought about quitting, mostly due to the fact that it was so time consuming, she eventually chose to stick with it until the end.

“When I went to a dance intensive this summer for six weeks, I wasn’t allowed a computer or my phone,” Garfinkel said. “Everyday I still took a picture and wrote what I did that day in a notebook, and when I got home I had to post six weeks worth of pictures and captions.”

Garfinkel believes that she gained a lot from her experience completing “Project 365.”

“The project taught me to appreciate each and every day, because time really goes by fast,” Garfinkel said. “It is crazy to me that 2011 is already gone. I remember posting that first picture on Jan. 1, 2011. It has also taught me that hard work pays off, especially towards the finished product I have now. I love that I can go back to any day and remember it perfectly.” 

Number of people who attended a welcome home parade for Iraq War veterans in St. Louis.

0

Other cities who have organized welcome home events for Iraq veterans.

All photos courtesy of Sara Garfinkel

11.5%

Unemployment rate for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

UPFRONT

11

CUT LOOSE

FOOTLOOSE MEREDITH MCMAHON The CHS performance of “Footloose” can be described as nothing other than a great time.

Between enthusiastic dance routines, intimate family moments, and great small-town humor, “Footloose” was able to capture the multi-faceted talents of students.

“Footloose” is especially unique this year because of all of its dancing. For sophomore Ben Diamond, this was a highlight of the show.

“The dancing is definitely my favorite part,” Diamond said. “In past performances, there were fewer opportunities to dance. I’ve been able to do lots of singing and acting in my life but never that much dancing. In Footloose, there is dancing throughout the show and it’s been so much fun working on it. It’s a thespian’s version of working out.”

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UPFRONT

A highlight of the show was math teacher Kurt Kleinberg’s appearance in the show as a cowboy.

“Rehearsing with Mr. Kleinberg has been a blast, and it’s also great to get to know another teacher that I may have in upcoming years,” Diamond said. “It’s really fun to see a teacher engaged in performance.”

The excellence of the show is shown through the dedication of students to rehearse every day after school until 6 p.m. For some, this provided some stress.

“Because rehearsals are every day after school, it has been a challenge to get all of my work done and also get enough sleep,” Diamond said.

The completion of the auditorium also added for a time crunch near the end of the play.

“This year we’re kind of cramming it in because of the new auditorium, [so] the date for it

was a little later because we had to postpone auditions, and now we’re kind of squeezing in rehearsals [right before the performance],” choir teacher Alice Fasman said.

“Footloose” has proved to be a very memorable performance in the minds of students and teachers alike.

“Every year is memorable because of the individuals who do it; every year I have memories in my mind and heart of each student,” Fasman said. “[There are] some things I will always think of these students when I see the production, and I will compare other performances to their production.”

Overall, “Footloose” has been a fantastic experience for many students.

“My favorite part performing in ‘Footloose’ is getting a chance to work with all these amazing people, [because] we have a blast, off and on the stage,” Emily Gudmestad said. 

LET’S HEAR IT FOR THE LOSERS JEFFREY FRIEDMAN

I

t’s back. The Biggest Loser contest at CHS will return this winter and run into the spring. From the beginning of this January until the end of April.

“We had 15 weeks,” physics teacher Robert Laux, the winner in the male category from the last contest, said. “We weighed in at the beginning and every two weeks. Whichever person had the biggest percentage of weight loss was rewarded a certain amount of money. At the very end, the biggest percentage of weight loss for the male and female categories got a reward.”

Last time, this contest the race to become the biggest loser fostered a sense of community among the teachers and brought out the competition in everyone.

Health teacher Melissa Hobick is responsible for organizing the contest. Hobick explained that the purpose of holding this contest is to make being healthy fun. She also said that there are studies that show if someone or something is holding you accountable for weight loss, you are more likely to stick to it.

According to studies of winter health, people usually gain a whopping seven to 12 pounds during the holidays.

“This event gets a lot of people thinking and doing more than they may have on their own,” Laux said. “I believe it helps promote healthy habits.”

Hobick said that she was very pleased with the results of the contest in the spring of 2010.

She felt there was a good level of participation among the faculty, many of whom lost a significant amount of weight and adopted some healthy lifestyle changes as well.

Laux echoed that sentiment. He said that because, he was exercising regularly and eating the right foods, he felt good because he didn’t have the “food coma” feeling. Laux said he no longer needed caffeine to pick himself up in the morning, and he generally felt a lot better in a lot of ways.

“This [the holidays] tends to be the time when people overeat and don’t work out,” said Hobick. “Most people make some sort of resolution to get healthy and lose weight, so I hope this contest will help them stick to it.” 

All photos by Paul Lisker

UPFRONT

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STEPPING DOWN FROM THE PODIUM Band director Charles Blackmore retires after 24 years of teaching at Clayton.

Olivia MacDougal

O

n Dec. 9, Band Director Charles Blackmore stepped on the podium and announced to the CHS Symphonic Band that he was a graduating member of the class of 2012.

“I was absolutely shocked when Mr. Blackmore said he would be retiring,” flutist Taylor Kloha said. “I have to confess, I actually started tearing up. It had never even occurred to me that he would ever have to retire.”

“He is someone who been so integral to the school that I can’t quite imagine CHS without him,” trombonist Addison Leong said.

Teaching in the Clayton School District for 24 years, Blackmore is grateful to have been a part of the Fine Arts program at CHS. “I have been blessed to have been a part of a wonderful program here at Clayton,” Blackmore said. “The support for music from the Board of Education, administration, and staff has been more than I could ever ask for.”

Other than becoming a music teacher, Blackmore has also had other professions.

“I was in sales and marketing for three and a half years, and then was Vice President of

NEWS AND NOTES

In-School Programs for Junior Achievement,” reinventing my life, and that’s very exciting. I know I will really miss a lot of what I do now.”

Blackmore said.

At the same time, Blackmore knows it is However, music has always been a strong intime. fluence on his life.

“This is something my wife and I have been “I just sort of gravitated towards it as I grew,” he said. “When I went to college, my primary contemplating for quite a while,” Blackmore goal was to be a conductor. Over time, I gradu- said. “I have been eligible to retire for a year or ally migrated to education, and that’s where I two now, but we decided to hold off until she was able to, and that way we could go together. My stayed.”

Knowing that this is his last year, many wife and I want to retire while we are still young enough to travel and do people have bittersweet feelings.

I am always a person who has things with our fami“I have just started liked changes and challenges, lies, friends and, most importantly, grandchilplaying with him as my and I look forward to the dren. Our plans are, and conductor and had been excited to work with challenge of sort of reinventing have been for a while, to him for two more years,” my life, and that’s very excit- change our residence to the Lake of the Ozarks flutist Abbie Kohming. area.” etscher said.

However, Blackmore Blackmore also knows it will be hard for Charles Blackmore hopes that his retirehim to retire. ment does not distract “When you stop and think that so many of students from the work necessary in band class.

“We have a lot to do, festivals, contests, conthe things I am doing now and have done for so many years are the ‘last time,’ it makes you certs,” Blackmore said. “This whole thing isn’t stop and think,” Blackmore said. “I am always about me; it’s about us, and we have work to do. a person who has liked change and challenges, There’s a lot of music to be played between now and I look forward to the challenge of sort of and graduation.” 

An 18-foot sculpture, titled “Molecular Bloom with Single Flower,” will adorn the Century Garden in Shaw Park in 2013.

Read Zach Praiss’ story at www.chsglobe.com

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UPFRONT

Jennifer Hack/Kansas City Star/MCT

SHIORI TOMATSU

The Globe will have exclusive video and written coverage of the Westboro Baptist Church protest on Feb. 6. Keep an eye on the web site for updates.

Q&A With the Nepalese Ambassador

D

r. Shankar Sharma became the ambassador to the U.S. in 2009. In his long and distinguished career with the Government of Nepal, spanning more than a decade, Dr. Sharma has had extensive dealings with senior levels of donor governments, development agencies, NGOs and the corporate sector in policy dialogue, foreign aid, peace building and development of the country. Dr. Sharma recently came to St. Louis, and The Globe’s Srijesh Panth got a chance to interview him.

What brought you to St. Louis? How was the outcome of your visit?

I was invited to speak to the Dean’s Breakfast Lecture Series on “Nepal-USA Relations and Economic Opportunities” in the John Cook School of Business, St. Louis University. In the meantime, I also had meetings with the officials of the World Trade Center, Missouri, Dean of the School and St. Louis Regional Chamber and Growth Association to discuss strategies to develop relations between Nepal and Missouri, especially in the areas of trade, investment and education. The trip also provided me an opportunity to interact with the Nepalese communities living in the greater St. Louis area.

Was this your first time in the St. Louis area? What was your impression of the city?

Yes, it was my first trip to St. Louis. St. Louis provides so many world-famous attractions ranging from the Gateway Arch, arts and culture, sports and entertainment. It is a gateway to the West. I am delighted that I was able to visit St. Louis.

What are some similarities you have seen between Nepal and the U.S., both geographically and in terms of the people?

Both countries have a democratic political system and multi-ethnic population, respect human rights and are federal. Nepal and the United States both have similar climatic variation – from subtropical to arctic. Education is considered the key of success in both countries.

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FEATURES

Courtesy of the Embassy of Nepal

What is your impression of the general awareness that the American people have about Nepal?

Americans, in general, think that Nepal is a beautiful and mystic country with Mt. Everest.

Awareness about Nepal, of the people who work in think tanks, Universities, Capitol Hill, government offices etc., is of high quality. Americans love Nepal.

Most people have heard of Mt. Everest, but what are some other things Nepal is known for?

Nepal is a birthplace of Lord Buddha and a country of numerous Hindu temples and monasteries. Nepal is a site for close to one dozen world heritage sites, an attractive place for jungle Safaris and eco-tourism, and it offers ethnic and cultural diversity.

What type of political change is Nepal going through?

We are in the process of completing the peace process and writing the New Constitution of the Federal Republic Nepal. It is a very important change in the country.

What types of economic transitions are taking place in Nepal, and how are they impacting youths and the educational system?

After the settlement of armed conflict and the

almost completed peace process, Nepal is trying to attract more investment and accelerate economic growth. Poverty has declined and there has been significant improvement in human development (e.g. health and educational) indicators of the country. Investment is in an increasing trend and educational opportunity in the country has expanded. These all are positive developments and will help opportunities for better education and job creation.

What are some of the memorable experiences you’ve had in the U.S.? Can you think of any learning experiences that you can apply in Nepal both on a personal and macro level?

I was able to witness many new developments in the bilateral relation between Nepal and the U.S. over the last two years including formation of the Nepal Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, agreement on trade and investment, increased U.S. assistance and the start of the resumption of the Peace Corps Program in Nepal.

Meeting with the president, vice-president, secretary of state and interacting with high-level dignitaries are some of the memorable experiences, too. Among many deeper democratic values, implementation of rule of law, advantages that can be taken from ethnic and cultural diversification, work ethics and economic development strategies are some of the things that Nepal can learn from the United States. 

it’s a wonderful (violent) life (& reality)

BY JACKIE LEONG

She was two years old, living in China, dubbed “YueYue.” In late 2011, she wandered into the street and was hit by a moving vehicle. Some 18 people watched from the sidelines as she was hit again. The twentieth passerby finally called for help. Within little time, a video was already posted on Youtube.

He was 75. In 2009, Mostafa Mahmoud Zayed committed suicide by self-shooting, ending up flopped on his Florida balcony. His neighbors finally realized that he wasn’t a Halloween prop when his body began to smell three days later.

If the above scenarios weren’t on the news, you’d think they were straight from the script of CSI. And while that in itself is frightening, more so is the trend of complacency that pervades the stories themselves. >> FEATURES

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T he grand advent of television is what first brought on-demand media to the home, and that includes hours and hours of violence, simulated or on the news, and that trend continues today.

“You still witness it over and over, even though it’s not real,” Marvin Berkowitz, Professor of Psychology at University of Missouri in Saint Louis, said. “If you don’t have a TV, you see zero.”

Connection? Sure. According to Berkowitz, the two theories prevailing regarding heightened violence exposure through television and the like are the “mean scary world” phenomenon, where viewers tend to see the world as such, and the theory of desensitization, in which viewers are “less perturbed” but still aware of the implications of violence.

The latter is often the more well-known of the two, as many link it to the sheer amount of media exposure that pervades today’s world.

There’s an app for that So far, after all, we’ve only been talking television. In terms of other forms of media, the worst offenders—unsurprisingly—are video games, and for good reason.

“In the Army I met a guy campaigning against violent video games,” Berkowitz said.

“They’re used in the Army to desensitize soldiers and make them more willing to kill.”

Tell that to Americans, or rather, the ones who contributed to the most recent “Call of Duty”’s grossly huge profit just a few months ago. The issue with the games used for recreational use, then, goes along that same train of thought.

“There are high levels of violence,” Terri Weaver, Professor of Psychology at Saint Louis University, said. “You’re planning and plotting

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FEATURES

to harm. Lots of people can play and have no trouble, but some become more impulsive. It’s a combined effect, because they become engaged that way.”

Of course, the issue with such virtualized violence used to be linked to the system linked to the dektop or TV. Now take into account the iPad, the laptop, the cell phone. Count them all—everything on your person or in your possession that happens to make bleeps and bloops, and there you have it: your daily primetime dosage.

Desensitization There’s the famous Hitchcock scene. You never saw the knife strike. The knife flashed in the air, the woman screamed and some dark stuff went down the drain. Now we see people being disemboweled.

Marvin Berkowitz Professor of Psychology, UMSL

If you want to simplify things, Berkowitz says, there are three main points in this new age of media violence: dosage, graphic level, and ambiguity. The first two are your average spots of evidence: how much violence we are exposed to though TV, DVDs, cell phones and the like, and the level of violence actually shown explicitly.

“There’s the famous Hitchcock scene,” Berkowitz said, referring to Hitchcock’s “Psycho.” “You never saw the knife strike. The knife flashed in the air, the woman screamed and some dark stuff went down the drain. Now we see people being disemboweled.”

Weaver agreed, calling the tactics of the past the “fear through the implied.”

“I just think it’s an expectation,” Weaver said. “The level of graphicness just keeps going up and up.”

Of course, paired with the fact that such scenes are the staple of movies and prime-time shows, there is some concern for the next generations, who are growing up in a world where they don’t know any different.

“I was watching TV with my son,” Berkowitz said. “He was in middle school at the time. At one point, I couldn’t look, but he had no problem with it.”

Where have all the heroes gone?

Berkowitz’s third point is something he more or less named himself, which he calls “ambiguity.” Or, for the more visual readers, what could probably be easily dubbed “The Loss of the Cowboys and Indians.” And it is exactly as it sounds.

A childhood in past years, Berknowitz explained, was one in which the plot on TV was “literally black and white.”

“The bad guys wore black cowboy hats,” he said, “and the good guys wore white cowboy hats. There were no doubts. You were either pure good or pure evil.”

The point? That absolute finality is long

gone. Between the black and white, grey space has been growing steadily. Try finding the supposed ‘good guys’ in any given show. Most likely, if you’re truly new to the show—a rare thing nowadays, where spoilers abound on the Internet and in the media in general—it’ll take a little head-scratching and perhaps some plot development.

“We’re seeing the prevalence of heroes and protagonists who have incredibly diabolical streaks,” Berkowitz said.

Since those nostalgic times of decades past, the fact remains that the development of the hero in general has veritably exploded, as has the line separating him from the antagonist.

From the anti-hero to the tamer ambiguous personality, the hero is no longer the pristine white nearly godlike figure he used to be. Think Dexter or even Hannibal Lector—any character that is shown to have some redeeming quality, however small.

Of course, that in itself is a rather recent development. Any character that’s automatically spotless from the get-go is probably a throwback to what might aptly be referred to as simpler times. More often than not, finding the characters to root for is, as Berkowitz says, “only fairly easy.”

Standing by Exit the world of pixels and artificial lights, though, and dealing with real-life incidents suddenly becomes that much more complicated.

With the line between what is real and what appears to be real slowly blurring, can we pin a case of simple desensitization to the now-infamous “YueYue incident”?

Of course, it can’t be that easy. Real-action violence is indeed harder to explain than those murders found in the common plot of weekly programs, in the pristine dramatized world of fictional reality. But the culture we live in is the same, and on that note, Berkowitz offers another very possible factor.

“The good Samaritans are getting sued,” Berkowitz said. And the cultural factor doesn’t stop there.

Many dismiss it as a particularly frightening example of the classic “bystander effect,” wherein a crowd of bystanders can remain inert while witnessing some horrible event simply because of the individual reasoning that there are plenty of other people available to take action. The group dynamic, in effect, lessens the urgency of action.

“Each person looks to the other to take action,” Weaver said. “Individual responsibility is diluted.”That’s the reason, of course, first aid training now recommends singling out people for separate tasks such as ‘You there, in the red shirt, call 911.’

But the reason for videotaping the action instead? That’s murkier business, as is the role of media in such ‘stand-and-watch’ incidents general.

“There’s probably multiple things,” said Weaver. “Perhaps it’s because you are ‘doing’ something. Maybe in our head, we’re documenting without taking full responsibility, a compromise... People are very connected by documenting things.”

In other words, through videotaping, Weaver guessed, “a reality is being created through media.” But it is extremely unclear “exactly what the psychological component is.”

Media might offer a twisted sense of connection. Or it might encourage the opposite. In the end, it is probably a combination of both.

“We’re so disconnected these days,” Berkowitz said. “We’re not feeling any connection. We learn not to get involved.”

Is this a good thing? Berkowitz would argue to the negative.

“Community’s critically important,” he said.

“We’re becoming so mobile, so virtual, we’ve lost connection. Humans are social animals.

When you get to a point where people can’t know each other, you have a problem.”

general consensus is that as a society, we see more violence today than we ever did in the past. And we’re getting used to it, slowly, to the Berkowitz’s chagrin.

“Young people have a tendency towards idealism,” he said. “It cuts through the burnt-out jaded mindset of people who’ve been through the wringer of the real world. Maybe there are some benefits to that.”

In contrast though, Berkowitz speculates whether a more casual attitude towards increasingly graphic violence is forcing young people “into a perhaps more accurate and more cynical view of the world,” getting rid of the proverbial “rose colored glasses.” Less of a reaction towards violence means that younger people are more inclined to “expect and accept evil.”

“It cuts both ways,” he said. “I for one would rather it be Peter Pan longer than shorter. The innocence of children, sure, is completely inaccurate. But it adds discourse and innovation, challenging the adults. But do you want to take that from them?” 

It’s a mad, mad world In today’s world, it has been argued both ways as to how prevalent real violence itself actually is. But with the seemingly endless stream of virtual violence at the ready, that detail seems to be wellcompensated.

Differences in reasoning notwithstanding, like it or not, the

Jackie Leong

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d e nk

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by Caitlin Kropp

Ink. Body art. Pieces. Work. Tats. Whatever you call them, tattoos are gaining ground like never before. With a more accepting public, body art is becoming a larger part of mainstream culture, and has thus found its way into the halls of CHS. For these individuals, their tattoos are a representation of who they are and what they stand for.

Family Matters The reasons to get a tattoo are varied, but, for some, body art is a permanent way to celebrate his or her connection to family and friends. Senior Erica Eisenberg’s tattoo has just such a meaning. The small triangular symbol on the back of her neck is identical to the one her father bears on his shoulder.

“He is really important to me, so this tattoo is kind of a representation of our father-daughter bond,” Eisenberg said.

For her, the decision to get a tattoo was one that had come with years of anticipation and planning. Before heading in, Eisenberg carefully prepared.

“I made sure to do research on a legitimate place to go and to be prepared with a visual representation of what I wanted,” she said. “My tattoo artist drew up a couple of options onto transfer paper until he got it the way I wanted.

He started to do the outline and it didn’t hurt too bad until he started to shade the part on my spine.”

Placed as it is, Eisenberg’s tattoo does not get noticed as often. When it is, however, some people misunderstand the meaning.

“I have gotten some funny questions about

it - people have asked if it represents bowling pins or pool balls,” she said. “It’s pretty simple and discrete, so people don’t usually have that strong of a reaction.”

While Eisenberg’s tattoo represents the connection she holds with her father, other CHS tattoos have a broader familial meaning. On his 17th birthday, senior Luke Ulrich got such a tattoo on his right bicep.

“It’s my family crest that I designed and it says, in Latin, ‘Eis Solis Vivoluime Amont’,” Ulrich said. “In English it translates to ‘I live only for those who love me.’”

For him, getting a tattoo was an experience that cannot be equaled, both in sensations and emotions.

“It was a kind of pain that you’ll only know if you get a tattoo, but it wasn’t too bad,” Ulrich said. “I really enjoyed the experience.”

Tattoos are not just limited to the student population, however. CHS math teacher Kurt Kleinberg has five tattoos, two of which symbolize his connection to his family and his friends.

Kleinberg got his first tattoo in his early twenties, but that came after several years of thought with his friends.

“The idea of a tattoo probably came up during my college years,” Kleinberg said. “I had a group of my best friends from high school, and we had talked about getting something to symbolize our friendship. It was probably two or three years in the making before we decided to get it done.”

That symbol is now on his right arm, and reads “LGA” in cursive script. His friends have identical images, and all stem from their high school group moniker.

“My first license plate was ‘263 LGA’,” Kleinberg said. “My friends and I, we drove around in my car a lot, so people started calling us the ‘LGA Crew.’ It just stuck.”

Body art was definitely accepted with his high school crew, but Kleinberg than had to deal with opposition from home, particularly from his father. His reaction, however, was a pleasant surprise.

“For the longest time, my dad was like ‘No tattoo. No tattoo. No tattoo,’” Kleinberg said.

“When I got mine in college, and I went to tell him, he said, ‘Let me guess. You got a tattoo.’

He was actually really positive about it, and then said he wanted to get his own tattoo.”

His father’s tattoo is now also shared by Kleinberg and his brother, symbolizing their family bond. All three of them have a tattoo of a rooster, Kleinberg’s on his left shoulder, that is another way to identify their group.

“The rooster is kind of the king of barnyard,” Kleinberg said. “My dad used to be with three guys in grade school who called themselves the ‘Three Cocksmen,’ as the three roosters. Later on, we applied that to my dad, my brother and I, so we decided to get that tattoo.”

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1. Senior Maddie Kirschner getting her first tattoo.

2. Kirshner’s tattoo of the Hebrew word for life, chai.

3. Senior Katie Marvel’s tattoo gotten in memory of a friend she lost.

Celebrations The permanence of tattoos may be off-putting for some, but for others it serves as a way to constantly remind him or her of the important things in life. Senior Maddie Kirschner uses her tattoo in just such a way, because she has chai, the Hebrew word for life, on the back of her neck.

“The symbol comes from the phrase ‘l’chaim,’ which means to life,” Kirscher said. “I like it because it reminds me to celebrate life.”

The main factors, for Kirschner, in the decision for getting body art came from prior want and the aesthetic appeal.

“I decided to get it because I like the meaning, and I wanted a tattoo,” Kirschner said. “I think they’re beautiful.”

The experience of being tattooed went smoothly for Kirschner, who felt completely at ease under the artist’s needle.

“I found it very exhilarating, especially because it was something I had waited a long time to do,” Kirschner said. “I also had a talented artist that made me feel comfortable with his work.”

As for future ink, Kirschner hasn’t ruled out the possibility, although it would have to be placed “somewhere that no one will ever see.”

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In Memory The death of a loved one is never an easy circumstance to bear, and many seek for meaningful ways to remember those who passed away.

For CHS senior Katie Marvel, that memorial is there every time she looks down.

Tattooed upon her foot are the words “Love makes you real,” a constant reminder of the friend she lost.

“I actually got this quote from a Clayton tutor, Thomas, who passed away,” Marvel said. “I was extremely close to him. One time he told me that his favorite childhood book was ‘The Velveteen Rabbit,’ and his favorite quote out of it was ‘Love makes you real.’ After he passed away, it was sort of a way for me to hold on to him.”

Two days after her 18th birthday, Marvel went to Iron Age, on the Loop, to get her tattoo, an experience she described as “one of the scariest things I’ve ever done.”

“The music was really loud and all the people were tatted up,” Marvel said. “I was really unsure what I was doing, so it was really nervewracking.”

After surviving her stint at the tattoo artists, the next challenge arose: telling her parents.

“I had always told my parents that I had wanted to get one, but they were pretty against me getting it,” Marvel said. “After I told them

that I did get a tattoo and what it meant, they were definitely shocked. I think my mom even teared up a little. But they were happy that I got it on my foot where it can be easily hidden.”

As of now, Marvel is happy with her one tattoo, though she isn’t against getting another one, if it’s for “a good reason.” For her, Thomas’ memorial was decidedly good reason enough.

Senior Jason Riss bears a memorial for his tattoo, one that also seeks to remind him to live life to its fullest. His right shoulder reads “Carpe Diem.”

“I had thought about celebrating my 18th birthday in a unique way and also to honor my uncle, who died very recently and suddenly,” Riss said. “‘Carpe Diem’ was his motto. I try to think about the meaning everyday, to seize the day before it seizes me.”

Riss’ parents were more supportive than Marvel’s, accompanying him and even paying for the art itself. The reactions, then, appear to come from a different source.

“Everyone else seemed to react by asking if it was real, because I guess I didn’t look like a tattoo kind of guy,” Riss said.

As for future art, Riss also isn’t opposed, although he would need some more time to think about it.

“I might get another, but I just don’t know what to get,” Riss said. “I need another year to decide.”

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4. Senior Katie Marvel 5. Senior Jason Riss’ tattoo gotten in honor of his uncle.

6. Senior Jason Riss 7. One of Math Teacher Kurt Kleinberg’s five tattoos. His father’s tattoo of a rooster is now also shared by Kleinberg and his brother, symbolizing their family bond.

Knowledgeable Pursuits As a way to declare passions, body art is definitely one of the more visible methods. For several CHS teachers, their passions for knowledge and learning are displayed with ink.

Kleinberg’s three other tattoos are three triangles, each symbols of three different types of geometry: Euclidean, Hyperbolic, and Elliptic.

All showcase his unique passion for his field.

“I love math, and getting these tattoos was really a way to declare my love for it,” Kleinberg said. “It’s a conversational piece, and it’s something I believe in.”

Kleinberg’s body art won’t stop there, however. He also plans on getting a “Mobius strip around my elbow,” and along with any other symbols that he finds meaningful enough.

“I think at one point my brother and I will probably get one together,” Kleinberg said. “I can’t say that there’s a limit. I won’t go crazy with it, but they do mean a lot to him and to who I am.”

Advice for Future Ink As for other’s ink, there is plenty of encouragement to go around. With social norms changing as they do, Kleinberg sees no obstacles to tasteful, meaningful body art.

“I think we’re at an age now where everybody has a tattoo,” Kleinberg said. “It’s okay now. There are some people who get carried away, but if it’s tasteful and it’s done well, there shouldn’t be any objections.”

Others echo his backing for ink, but with some caveats.

“Don’t ever let someone tell you not to get a

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7 tattoo,” Ulrich said. “It’s a great experience, but don’t rush it. You have your whole life to think about it.”

In the end, the choice of body art comes down to careful thought and planning. Kleinberg, who gave each tattoo “at least two years of thought,” does not advocate any rushed decisions.

“You need to really think about it,” Kleinberg said. “You shouldn’t go to a tattoo place and say, ‘Oh, I like this star,’ and get it tattooed on your body. You need to think about it and know that it won’t be something that you’ll regret getting.”

Photos by Paul Lisker

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8,9,10. Kleinberg’s triangles show his unique passion for his field. The three triangles are each symbols of three different types of geometry: Euclidean, Hyperbolic, and Elliptic.

11. CHS Math Teacher Kurt Kleinberg 12. Kleinberg’s tattoo on his right arm is shared with his friends. The image stems from their high school group moniker.

The Industry of Education

By Noah Eby & Parker Schultz With Jackie Leong, Laura Bleeke, Zach Praiss Graphics by Dee Luo

E

ducation has been compared to a pendulum, swinging between extremes. Teachers bemoan losses of autonomy in the classroom and pressures to quantify and measure, while national trends sway the pendulum towards assessment, data, and standardization on an industrial scale.

“Some wonder if the pendulum has swung too far, especially in as unique of a place as Clayton,” said CHS Academic Director and social studies teacher Josh Meyers.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was, in many ways, the impetus behind that swing. Signed into law in 2002, the education reform set national standards for America’s public school system. It tested students for standardized knowledge, and it held school districts accountable for the results.

Since then, Clayton has been adjusting to meet the demands of NCLB and other national pressures.

“When I first got here we had huge curriculum binders that were all teacher-written,” said Sharmon Wilkinson, Superintendent of the School District of Clayton. “That started to change, particularly with No Child Left Behind.”

Even at Clayton, a district that traditionally had taken national standards and assessments fairly lightly, changes have occurred.

“No Child Left Behind came along, and the stakes got higher,” said CHS Assistant Principal Marci Pieper. “Every child across needs to be proficient by 2013? It almost seemed like the task was set up for failure.”

And Clayton has failed, at least by NCLB standards. For the past four years, the District has not met Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), despite the fact that average scores on state tests are well above proficiency levels.

The system created by NCLB is undoubtedly imperfect, but it remains the law of the land in education.

“I don’t suppose Clayton has a choice,” said retired Captain teacher Lee Scissors. “It has to meet the national and state standards.”

Now, 11 years after its enactment, changes are still taking place. Across the nation, schools are becoming more focused on assessment, more driven by data and alignment. Nationally, education has become an industry, dedicated to producing students with standard knowledge and experiences with scientific precision. Clayton is, sometimes unwillingly, following suit, and the industry of education continues to prosper.

Measurement Testing, testing, testing. Assessment is emphasized in the industry of education, but prior to NCLB Clayton’s attitude towards state testing was “cavalier.”

“Clayton didn’t pay as much attention to the tests,” said Wydown science teacher Claudia Wall. “It’s not like they weren’t trying to focus on success, but there wasn’t all this wailing and gnashing of teeth about it.”

While standardized tests may seem superfluous in a district like Clayton, where students are renowned for their intellectualism and intelligence, NCLB has provided an important window into student performance. All districts, Clayton included, must now examine the proficiency of all students.

“In the past, you could say we were kind of cavalier, but we were looking at average scores,” said Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning Dottie Barbeau. “You really can’t be so cavalier when you get these scores that show that 20 percent of your population is scoring much lower.”

Due to state requirements that students make AYP, testing has become more prominent. Each subgroup – a group of more than 30 students, such as African-American or IEP students – must meet AYP in order for the District as a whole to do so.

Students are increasingly inundated with assessment.

The list of standardized tests taken by Clayton students, a hodgepodge of acronyms, continues to grow.

Among these are the MAP, EOC, ERB, SRI, DRA2, Terra Nova, AIMS, NWEA, EXPLORE, PLAN and ACT. Students spend hours each year taking these tests. Fifth graders spend almost 14 hours in a year testing, as do eighth graders. High school students spend 17 hours taking standardized tests over their four years, not including AP tests, which typically last three hours each.

The data that all of this testing provides is dissected by administrators and teachers.

“These big summative assessments like MAP tests and the ACT test, those are like an autopsy,” Barbeau said. “It gives us a lot of information. An autopsy tells you about the effects of your life choices, maybe, or family genetic issues, the impact of your diet and medications. So the autopsy tells us a lot, but it doesn’t help the patient. So what we need are the annual check-ups, and that’s what our formative assessments and some of our common assessments are supposed to do.”

Indeed, the District “asked that all teachers of like courses and grade levels give, at minimum, two assessments in common during each semester,” according to Barbeau.

A common assessment does not necessarily ask the same questions, but could instead test a skill. Teachers use their Professional Learning Community (PLC) time to collaborate in creating and examining common assessments.

“If you don’t have a common assessment that more than one classroom is using, how do you know if you’re hitting that mark or not?” Barbeau said. “You have to have a standard to compare to.”

Numbers Game From testing, the District gleans huge amounts of data.

With the rapid improvement of technology in the past decades, districts can now process data with efficiency. Data Warehouse makes student data easily accessible to teachers.

“We have at our finger tips now much more sophisticated ways to measure what kids know,” Barbeau said. “We can more easily monitor the progress that students are making to see incremental learning gains.”

In their PLCs, teachers of the same department or same class come together to compare student data and trends, and to converse about how student performance can be improved.

“I don’t want it to sound very cold and prescriptive, because it’s not,” Barbeau said. “It still is calling on the teacher to interpret that data and say, this data is telling me that these kids need something. And then we want the teachers to bring that breadth of knowledge they have and that innovation… and then you go back in your classrooms and try all of that. And then you come back together and see if it worked.

Because if it’s not working, you need to go back and try some-

“Data doesn’t take into account the human element of education - the magic moments that happen between a teacher and students in a classroom that cannot be quantified.”

Susan Teson thing new. But if it is working, then we want you to share that with everybody else who might be teaching the same class.”

Scores on tests are clearly a pride of the District, as shown by the massive posters in the Commons proclaiming Clayton’s ACT, AP, National Merit, and PISA scores. Yet some teachers worry that the focus on data can be overbearing, perhaps at a cost to other areas.

“I’ve heard a phrase that people use to talk about keeping in line with a test,” said English teacher Emily Grady. “You don’t fatten a pig by weighing it. Any time the focus is put on testing and numbers, it seems like you lose the instruction part.”

Weighing the pig, as Grady puts it, is a nationwide trend.

NCLB placed a premium on numbers, and the nations schools have been influenced.

“I think that not only here, but nationwide, people are becoming aware that education is data-driven,” said English teacher John Ryan. “I worry that means we are leveling downwards instead of holding a higher standard.”

Many teachers spoken with for this article questioned to what degree students’ learning can be represented by data.

While numbers can give teachers helpful insight into student’s academic progress, it may not paint the full picture. Some teachers worry that tests will only show one side of the progress made by their students.

“Data doesn’t take into account the human element of education - the magic moments that happen between a teacher and students in a classroom - that cannot be quantified,” said English teacher Susan Teson.

Social studies teacher Sam Harned, too, expressed doubt as to whether education could be quantified as NCLB and current educational trends suggest.

“The very best things that go on in a classroom cannot be measured, but people love to think that they can somehow measure education,” Harned said. “And maybe some things you can measure, but the best things you cannot.”

English teacher Jennifer Sellenriek provided the example of COVER STORY

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“There is tremendous pressure for hard data of student performance,” Haydon said. “The arts do not easily translate into numbers that can be graphed and compared against standards. Paying attention to the arts requires tolerance for ambiguity.”

In the end, the use of data forces teachers to become amateur statisticians, using graphs and numbers and charts to evaluate students and make instructional decisions.

“Trying to make this into a science is ultimately going to be a spirit-killing operation,” Harned said. “Nobody going into this field is going into it because they want to scientifically reduce education to data.”

Lining Up

a student being judged by his poor standardized test scores, when in reality the whole picture was more positive.

“Oh my gosh, this kid bombed the standardized test,” Sellenriek said. “And I say, ‘No, but every single day he asks a good question, he totally gets the big picture.’ We need to help him read for detail, that’s his problem. He’s not a failing student, he’s got one little glitch.”

The push for data permeates education in Clayton. “Data is essential for making decisions for individuals and their academic achievement,” read a recent Captain Elementary email newsletter from Principal Sean Doherty. But the arts, in particular, are finding it difficult to measure skills based on data. Diana Haydon, a Glenridge Elementary School art teacher, has struggled to produce “evidence” of her student’s success.

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One of the District’s primary curricular goals over the past five years has been to vertically and horizontally align the curriculum. This was part of the five-year Comprehensive School Improvement Plan, drafted in 2008 by a committee of students, staff, parents and community members. For the purposes of this article, the focus will be on horizontal alignment: standardizing learning across grade levels.

The purpose of horizontal alignment, according to several administrators, is to develop certain “assured experiences,” so that there will be a standard that all students in a certain grade or class will achieve. The District, they said, needs to ensure that every sixth grader entering Wydown will have certain skills, and that every freshman will be at some level of proficiency.

“By having horizontally aligned curriculum, we have a shared understanding of the expectations and rigor we want for our students,” said Director of Assessment Heidi Shepard. “It allows for teachers to have thoughtful curriculum conversations as we constantly monitor our students’ successes and whether we are keeping the curriculum in alignment to state and college expectations.”

Curriculum alignment is a national trend, and Missouri recently decided to adopt the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). A response to the poor and varied state assessment practices after No Child Left Behind, the CCSS are coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers. They have been adopted by 45 states thus far. The CCSS provide standards that will grant uniformity to the nation’s state assessments.

“It’s an expectation that kids across our country will be measured to a similar standard, and that way, as our society is more mobile, you have an expectation that you will be able to be successful no matter where you go, and that all states have a similarly challenging curriculum,” Barbeau said.

Since Clayton students will soon be tested over the material and skills in CCSS on Missouri state assessments, the District is in the process of incorporating the standards into

“By having horizontally aligned curriculum, we have a shared understanding of the expectations and rigor we want for our students.”

Heidi Shepard

the written curriculum. In many cases, this has already occurred. However, Barbeau said that the CCSS will serve as the “floor level expectation” as committees embed the guidelines into curriculum. She said that the CCSS tell teachers what to teach, not how to teach it, and she called the standards “very exciting.”

“It is ratcheting up the expectations for learning, and that’s an exciting message for students…” Barbeau said. “Here in Clayton, we already have some highly ratcheted-up expectations, but even [the Common Core Standards], in some areas, will be pushing us to improve what we do.”

Sellenriek was also enthusiastic about the new standards. She said that the CCSS, unlike older state standards, do a good job of incorporating intellectual curiosity and skills such as synthesizing information.

Sellenriek said that she hopes the CCSS are, as Barbeau said, the minimum expectation.

“If we have this conversation the right way, it’s how does Common Core represent what we want, and what else can we do?” Sellenriek said. “If we have the right kind of conversation, Common Core can be the bare minimum, and we’re going to do more. And that’s the Clayton I’d like to be part of.”

The drive for horizontal alignment is not uniformly accepted among teachers. To some, the desire to create a larger degree of uniformity in the classroom experience is puzzling.

“While I understand why parents want all students to meet the same objectives, one of my questions has been that I don’t quite understand why people want every child to have the exact same lessons and assessments in every classroom,” said English teacher James Lockhart. “Just because it’s different does not mean it’s less, it’s just different.”

Nancy Freeman, who retired as journalism adviser

last year, said that making kids have the same experience is “never going to be possible.”

Several teachers expressed concern that standardizing curriculum would result in a loss of teacher independence.

“We’ve always cherished the autonomy of teachers… but now there are cases where curriculum is being dictated, and it has increased in the past decade, and it worries me,” Ryan said.

Meyers said that curriculum alignment has both pros and cons.

“By determining what you’re going to emphasize and what you’re not going to emphasize it’s liberating in a certain sense,” Meyers said. “I know that in a given unit I only have to teach these 10 to 20 concepts or events in depth. The flip side of that is that a teacher who has a particular interest or passion on a topic may feel compelled to spend less time on it or skip it altogether if it doesn’t fit within the identified framework.”

While Clayton is not nearly as progressed in curriculum alignment as other districts, Harned said that he worries the trend of increasing standardization could, in the future, hamper teacher creativity.

“You’ve got to be careful that [alignment] doesn’t result in conformity, that it doesn’t result in a loss of teacher energy and initiative,” Harned said.

Curriculum alignment at the high school is not as entrenched as at the elementary schools. Teachers used to work to develop the elementary school curriculum, but that ended several years ago. Now, the District purchases ready-made curriculums – one teacher called them “teacher’s manuals” and said that in some cases “it’s word for word.”

“It tells you exactly what to read, when to stop, and how many children should respond,” said one teacher who preferred to remain anonymous. “It’s a script. And

“The way that teachers go about it is the art of it, and that’s the fun part of teaching. It’s not as fun as it used to be.”

Anonymous

there’s not a lot of flexibility, and not a whole lot of room to be creative for the teachers that want to be.”

Curriculum is aligned across grade levels and all three elementary schools. Each subject has its own curriculum book, which includes activities, questions to ask students, and time allotments for lessons. At the end of each unit is a test, included in the “manual,” which each elementary school teacher of that grade level will give his or her students.

“I could go do my own thing and teach fractions my own way, but the bottom line is they have to take this test at the end, so why would I not go by the lesson provided, that’s been proven, all these people have studied this,” said another teacher who preferred to remain anonymous. “Why do I think I know more than the textbook people? So I’m just going to go by the text.”

This approach to curriculum is, according to the teachers spoken with for this article, helpful for new, inexperienced

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teachers. But, they said, it is not necessary for teachers with decades of experience, and the end result is a loss of creativity.

“What hurts the most is that those creative things kids remember long after they have left school are gone,” one teacher said. “Kids aren’t going to remember reading a social studies textbook and answering questions about it. Sure they’ll learn from it, but it’s not going to bring a smile to their face when they remember learning it.”

Barbeau said that she can sympathize with teachers’ concerns, but that fears of “cookie-cutter” teaching and complete loss of autonomy are “misdirected.” She said that “we need to teach this, we need to teach students how to divide two-digit fractions, but we can teach that however we want.”

Wilkinson said that she thinks teachers are still able to be creative in the classroom.

“I think we still want teachers to be innovative and creative in their practice and delivery of the curriculum,” Wilkinson said. “We hired teachers for who they are, the passion for their subject area, and so we do want them to bring all that, and so you don’t want something to become so regimented that they feel they can’t. But I think there’s still that question of what’s the commonality of experiences that we want students to have, and what are the critical understandings that we want students to have?”

As the District continues to align curriculum, those questions will likely be answered. And while one teacher said that having some constants across the District was a necessity, they said that controlling how teachers implement curriculum is not the best path.

“The way that teachers go about it is the art of it, and that’s the fun part of teaching,” one teacher said. “It’s not as fun as it used to be.”

Industry Testing, data usage and standardization are national trends, and Clayton is feeling the pressure to conform. But Clayton has long viewed itself as unique, as a regional leader. Now some worry that we are being forced to sacrifice that position.

“I think that we are having to become more like everybody else,” said business teacher Marci Boland. “I do see that we are not quite as unique as we used to be.”

What made Clayton unique in the past was, according to

former Assistant Superintendent Linda Henke, “the ability to innovate and try out new ideas. We had talented teachers and administrators who conducted research in their classrooms, wrote articles about their teaching, read widely, and helped to lead the district.”

Freeman and others pointed out that Clayton is increasingly comparing itself to “market districts” or “comparable districts.”

She said that 15 years ago “the thought that we were turning into just another Parkway or just another Rockwood would have been horrifying… We wanted to be the best. I think that people still want it, but they’re not always willing to do the things that that requires.”

What exactly that requires may be the sticking point. Harned said that he believes Clayton is unique because of its inherently intellectual environment, and that the District needs to find its identity and work to maintain it.

“You’d better truly figure out what your identity as a school is going to be, and then preserve that identity at all costs,” Harned said. “ If you don’t guard it, it will get eroded. It’s not necessarily that you’re under assault, but if you don’t guard what you treasure as a school, then it could eventually erode.”

It would be wrong to suggest that the changes in education of the past decade are caused only by NCLB. Economic downturn has caused districts around the nation to cut costs, and Clayton is now beginning to feel that pressure. Social studies teacher David Aiello said that he has seen a business-like mentality develop in District leadership, a sense that the “bottom line” is the most important factor in some decisions.

“If every decision must be based primarily on financial cost, then there should be no surprise when innovation and extra efforts by employees decline,” Aiello said. “Clayton School District employees have always given way more than they were paid for, and I don’t expect that to change. But I also believe that it gets more difficult for people to continue going above and beyond when they have to spend more and more time justifying every possible cost for any new idea that they want to try with students.”

He described a time when the District was “so positive and full of optimism about the future,” a time when District leadership “instilled confidence in the employees and the community that Clayton was a truly special school district, and that we needed to keep the great things from our past but constantly innovate to find new ways to be a leader in public education.”

Although Aiello admits that he may be reminiscing through rose-colored glasses, he said that he has a seen a “dramatic philosophical shift” in the way the District is run. Whereas in the past, visionary leadership heavily nurtured teacher innovation and creativity, he said that recent Boards of Education and administrations have been more akin to managers, focused on a financial bottom line and “afraid of making mistakes,” “to the detriment of programs and people who can keep us innovative.”

Other teachers have perceived a sense of distrust between “management” and teachers, stemming from the push for data-

driven decisions, common assessment, and curriculum alignment.

“My personal feeling is that there is much less trust now than there was 10 years ago,” said one teacher. “I personally think the Board has a lot to do with it. I think the Board is micromanaging and doing too much day-to-day functions of the District. It’s the Board’s job to set policy, and that’s it. And they’re trying to run the schools.”

That lack of trust was apparent as we conducted interviews for this story. Several teachers asked to be anonymous, and many were wary of expressing their full opinion. “[The District] used to value discourse and dissent from teachers and didn’t see it as a threat,” said an anonymous teacher. “They would see discourse as a way to really look forward and get the best ideas out there. Now, if you do that, you’ll get a job target – you’re essentially a threat to the system.”

This system, this industry of education, is dynamic. It is a pendulum swaying between opposites: data and alignment on one side, and authentic assessment and complete teacher independence on the other. “I think it’s getting ready to be more balanced,” one teacher said.

But Lockhart was not so optimistic.

“I hope to find a middle ground, but that seems impossible in education,” Lockhart said. “We always swing widely from one extreme to another.” 

COVER STORY

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Remembering

WALLY LUNDT 1927 - 2011

By Jonathan Shumway & Zach Praiss

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W

ally Lundt lived a full life.

For 84 years, he did what he loved as he dedicated his life to aquatics and his family.

After coaching water polo and swimming for almost 60 years and teaching at CHS for 35 years, Wally passed away on Dec. 26, 2011. He was a memorable coach, a wise mentor, a kind friend, a loving father, and a devoted husband who will always be remembered by the lives he touched.

Wally was born June 10, 1927 in St. Louis as an only child to loving parents, Walter Herman Lundt and Elsie Wilmsmeier. His parents were not outdoors people or swimmers, but he spent many days at his cousin’s cottage on the Meramec River. By the age of nine, he had learned how to swim. In the later years of high school, Wally joined the Meramec River Patrol and saved over 200 lives from accidental drownings. The Meramec River was ultimately a large source of Wally’s lifelong love for aquatics.

Coincidentally, through his newfound love of aquatics, Wally found the other love of his life, Ann Lundt. She shared Wally’s passion for aquatics and eventually became his lifelong partner in marriage.

“My first date with Wally was on the river in a canoe while he was river patrolling,” Ann Lundt said. “I also grew up in a family that had a cottage on the Meramec River...Wally and I really shared a love of the water.”

After graduating from Beaumont High School, Wally joined the Merchant Marines.

Later, he joined the Marine Corps and was stationed as a Military Police in Guam. He was then selected for the All Navy Swimming Team to compete in the mile swim. Drawing upon his years of swimming, he won two events in Guam, two events in Mariana Islands, and one event in Shanghai, China. He then was a finalist in the 1946 All Navy Championships held in Jacksonville, Florida. After two years in the Marines, he swam for Washington University for four years.

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Born June 10 in St. Louis

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“He was, in short, a man who never sat down,” Ann Lundt said. “He always wanted to be busy and be doing something.”

Along with his interest in aquatics, Wally loved music and travel. He started to play the violin in elementary school, played the bass in college with a musical group called the Hush Boys, and maintained season tickets to the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

After serving in the Navy and Marines in the Pacific islands, Wally remained deeply committed to travel and extensively toured throughout Europe with Ann.

Coaching For Wally, his choice to become a coach and teacher was derived from years of being involved with aquatics. He never regretted this decision.

“His love for the Meramec River, swimming in high school and at Washington University where he was captain of his swimming team his senior year reinforced his love for water,” Ann Lundt said. “He loved the outdoors, but he also loved competing. The two worked together well and gave him the idea of what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.”

Seeking to share his love for aquatics, Wally began his career as a high school teacher and swimming coach in 1952 at Normandy High School. In 1957, he came to CHS where he coached swimming and water polo, and taught physical education, scuba diving, canoeing, and lifeguarding courses over the years.

His athletes saw him as a humble and direct coach. Wally emphasized the importance of mastering the fundamentals of a sport like the different strokes in swimming. CHS alum Richard Yawitz of the Class of 1973 who swam and played water polo under Wally, remembers a certain regimen and style to Wally’s coaching.

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Learns to swim at the YMCA

Sonia Beard

“He had a program,” Yawitz said. “He prepared in advance what his practices were going to be. He was predictable in terms of how he would construct his workouts, the passing drills, and the scrimmaging at the end...There was a certain flexibility and interpretation, so that as long as you stayed within the guidelines, you were fine.”

Sports with Wally, however, required a significant amount of hard work, dedication, and commitment.

“He brought this attitude of winning and taught the players and the team that it was important to play as hard as they could,” Yawitz said. “[The team] would think about water polo not only when they were practicing, but other times during the day too. So it involved the team 24-7.”

Even till this past fall when he coached the CHS Boys’ Swimming Team, Wally continued to inspire and instill in his players the ability and confidence to take on difficult challenges.

“He taught me to work hard, and even though something was hard, it didn’t mean that you shouldn’t do it,” junior Nico Salavaggione, a current CHS swimmer and water polo player, said.

Despite his sometimes blunt and serious tone as a coach, Wally found moments for the team to have some well-deserved fun.

“He definitely made practice hard, but during breaks he always had something to say, a story, or a compliment to give to us on how we were doing,” Salavaggione said. “He knew how

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Enters Beaumont High School

Captains the Boys’ Swimming Team

1950

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Courtesy of Ann Lundt

Courtesy of Alan Stiffelman

to make us laugh...He connected with all of us so well because he was a nice guy with a good sense of humor...We were all just really good friends.”

Although Wally coached into his eighties, he was always able to connect on a personal level with his players. CHS alum Todd Almli of the Class of 1989 who swam with Wally, remembers the friendly and personable spirit that Wally brought to the team.

“He was sixty back then with me,” Almli said. “He was old at that point, but that did not matter. His age did not matter. He was relateable to anybody. For six decades, he connected with teenagers.”

More Than A Coach Wally was much more than a coach for his athletes; he was friend and mentor that players could count on for counsel and guidance.

“He was able to see the real person and understand what was going in each young man or young woman’s life,” Ann Lundt said. “Working with people was pure joy for him.”

CHS alum Alan Stiffelman of the Class of 1967, swam and played water polo with Wally.

During high school, Wally became a fatherly figure in Stiffelman’s life as he was always accessible for a conversation with kind words of advice.

“When I had problems, I knew I could talk to 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59

Graduates from Washington University

1960

Begins coaching tennis and swimming at CHS

Wally,” Stiffelman said. “You just knew that he could be trusted.”

Wally cared about each of his athletes. CHS alum Jim Floerchinger of the Class of 1988, swam and played water polo with Wally. He remembers Wally as a warmhearted coach who was concerned about the “success of the whole athlete.”

“Everyone needs someone like Wally in their life,” Floerchinger said. “He cared about our lives...He probably cared more about the successful life of his athletes outside of the sport than the actual competition...I always felt that even though I was being pushed, Wally wanted the best for me.”

Inspired by Wally’s coaching, Floerchinger has become a successful water polo and swimming coach. As a coach, Floerchinger echoes Wally’s focus on the individual success of each of his athletes to help prepare them for life--beyond just the sport.

Although Wally focused on the individual, he also recognized the importance of teamwork, valuing the bonds and friendships formed between the various freshman to seniors on the swimming and water polo teams. According to Almli, Wally was “part of the gang” and the uniting factor of the team.

“Traveling to meets in the bus, Wally never sat in the front of the bus,” Almli said. “Instead, he sat in the back with us, yapping away.”

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1970

LEFT: Wally Lundt smiles after a victorious swim meet. CENTER: Wally coaches 1968 CHS water polo players Alan Stiffelman on left and Jimmy Spiegel on right. RIGHT: Wally exits the pool.

Over the years, Wally coached numerous successful swimming and water polo teams.

Under his leadership, the CHS aquatic program flourished throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s. At the time, it was not unusual for over a hundred students to pack into the old Natatorium for a swim meet. Water polo and swimming were among some of most popular sports at CHS, amassing several state titles during those decades.

From 1967 to 1972, Yawitz recalls losing only a handful of water polo games in high school and going undefeated in his senior year at a time when Clayton aquatics were top in the state.

Life Lessons Indeed, Wally loved to win; however, it wasn’t all about winning for him.

“He always said, ‘It’s easy to win, anybody can win, but the ability to lose and go on the next day is the most important thing of all,’” Ann Lundt said.

Thus, Wally not only taught his teams how to win, but he also taught them how to lose.

“He taught us about fair play, and honesty, and how to approach any situation,” Yawitz said.

“I remember that by just playing the sport, you learn more from your defeats than you do your victories. When you lose, you think of how you could be better, so you don’t lose again. The

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1980

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Starts the Clayton Invitational Water Polo Tournament PLAY BY PLAY

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Coaches at Lafayette High School

Leaves CHS with a coaching record of 75% wins 83 84 85 86 87 88 89

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games that we lost, I remember the most.”

The principles that Wally taught were timeless for his athletes.

“He also loved helping young people fit into adulthood by really thinking about strong ideals, the importance of a work ethic,” Ann Lundt said. “He tried to also teach courage to young people, a keen sense of integrity, and the ability to cope with the inevitable failures in life.”

Junior Jack Layden, a current CHS swimmer and water polo player, recognizes the significant impact that Wally has made on his life.

“He helped me grow from being a freshman and learn how to be a man,” Layden said. “He taught me how to be a good person. Wally was someone who you could look up to as he had dedicated his whole life to helping people.”

As Wally coached year after year, his enthusiasm never diminished because he truly loved his job.

“He was in the right niche,” Ann Lundt said.

“Wally never complained about going to work.

Inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame 2000

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He really loved it. He wanted to get there, the sooner the better.”

Even this past fall, when he became sick during the boys’ swimming season, Wally was committed to trying to come to as many practices as possible.

“This season I did my best because I wanted him to be proud,” Salavaggione said. “Although he wasn’t always there, he was with us in our thoughts. We kept working hard because that it what he wanted us to do.”

Family Man Wally always kept a busy schedule, but first, and foremost, he was a family man.

“When he came to the door, I could tell whether they had won or lost, but the minute he came in door, he was hundred percent husband and father,” Ann Lundt said. “He had the ability to put aside anything that had gone wrong... Not many men can achieve that.”

Wally made sure that he devoted time always to his family. Almost every weekend, the family would go on a hike, with a 5-miler being a short one. Also, Wally and his wife, Ann, loved to share their love of the outdoors with their children and grandchildren.

“He was always involved in teaching the children about the outdoors,” Ann Lundt said. “We did a lot of camping and canoeing. We probably hiked 200 miles a year always. We were both hikers.”

Wally coached many successful teams and he was loved by many, but perhaps his greatest accomplishment was his 57 years of marriage.

Wally’s teams knew just how meaningful his

Photos by Sonia Beard

TOP: Wally coaches the 2010 CHS Water Polo Team from the pool deck. BOTTOM: Wally smiles in the center of the team picture for the 2010 CHS Water Polo Team.

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Returns to coach at CHS

Passes away Dec. 26 2010

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family and Ann was to him when practice would usually end fifteen minutes early on Fridays so he could take Ann to the lake house. He always had a place in his heart for both his family and aquatics.

Legacy When Wally began working at Shaw Park Aquatic Center in 1952, no one knew of his future legacy.

After being a lifelong proponent of the sport as an athlete and a coach, Wally was inducted into the USA Water Polo Hall of Fame in 2004.

He was a pioneer for water polo in the Midwest by helping start the first water polo league in St. Louis with University City and Ladue in 1960.

Wally also began one of the longest running water polo tournaments in the nation in 1971, the Clayton Invitational Water Polo Tournament.

Today, his presence as well as his passion for aquatics and for helping others is felt by six decades of high school students and members of the community.

“He gave his life to other people,” Layden said. “The swim team and the water polo team will never forget Wally.”

The Clayton community is fortunate to have had Wally as their keystone for aquatics for almost 60 years.

“I think it is profound the impact he had on the people that he came into contact with,” Patty DeForrest, the Director of Clayton Parks and Recreation, said. “I don’t think there’s any family in Clayton that did not have any connection to Wally.”

As the principles that he taught were timeless, his character and devotion to people were untouched by age or health.

“After seeing the memorial service, it was interesting to see his consistency in character,” senior Julia Grasse, a current CHS swimmer and water polo player, said. “It just made so much sense. We actually really did know him. There were stories that were told that we could relate to that happened fifty years ago.”

The memory of Wally will continue with the countless individuals who were touched by his life. He was a constant example of dedication, fortitude, and service.

“I was always remember his life lessons, first and foremost, but also just remembering Wally in the last 25 plus years at Shaw Park with his brimmed hat, and swimming suit,” Yawitz said.

“There he was out there with his smiling face, always happy.”  Thank you Wally for teaching us how to live a rich and fulfilling life. We will always love you.

SUPER BOWL PREVIEW Prediction: Another Giant Victory

By Chris Sleckman

23 --- 17 The scoop The playoff road January 15, 2012 The Giants stun the Super Bowl favorite Packers at Lambeau Field, after an amazing Hail Mary catch at the end of the first half by Hakeem Nicks.

January 22, 2012 New York prevails in the NFC championship game against the San Francisco 49ers, after two costly special teams fumbles by Kyle Williams of the 49ers. One of which led to the game winning field goal in overtime.

The New England Patriots and the New York Giants faced each other in Super Bowl XLII in 2008 and the Giants won 17-14. Earlier this season the Giants and Patriots faced off and once again Eli Manning and the Giants won in a tight game 24-20. The dual threat of Victor Cruz and Hakeem Nicks combined with a good power run game in Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs will be too much for New England’s weak secondary to handle. The Giants ferocious defensive line will be too much for Tom Brady.

He had a weak passer rating of 57.5 in the AFC Championship and had two picks and zero touchdowns passes. All of these factors point towards the Giants prevailing, in what will likely be a close game.

PRO BOWL UNDER SCRUTINY ger to forget about the past season. A “football game” is the last possible thing they want to participate in after a less than desirable season, his past weekend was probably fairly especially if the best players from the teams busy for everyone, and numerous note- headed to the Super Bowl won’t even be there, worthy events occurred. The Pro Bowl, in addition to those who claim to be “injured”.

I say “football game” in quotations because however, wasn’t one of these events. That’s not to say that the Pro Bowl didn’t the Pro Bowl is anything but a take place this past weekend; With bans on blitzing, football game. With bans on I’m merely stating the obviany defense other than blitzing, any defense other than the 4-3, and motion by the ofous—that the Pro Bowl is the the 4-3, and motion fense (these are but a few of most unnoticeable, hilariously unexciting sports event of the by the offense, the Pro the regulations imposed during year.

Bowl has become little the game), the Pro Bowl has become little more than a glorified In case you weren’t aware, more than a glorified game of flag football. Indeed, the Pro Bowl is an unwanted game of flag football. the primary concern of players interruption in the muchand coaches alike is to avoid any desired Hawaiian vacations of some of the NFL’s best players who weren’t injuries that might affect a team’s performance quite good enough to make it to the main event. in the next season (which actually matters). All After having gone through the regular season, of this considered, we have to ask: does anyone and for a few even a stint in the postseason, even watch this charade of an all-star match up the NFL players in the Pro Bowl have had their anymore? The Pro Bowl might have had its day hopes of getting a Super Bowl ring dashed. As in the past, but the time to do away this “tradisuch, many are relatively downtrodden and ea- tion” is long overdue. 

SCOTT FLOERKE

T

The playoff road Jan 14, 2012 Tom Brady and the Patriots shut down the miracle man Tim Tebow in a complete blow out. The much improved Patriot defense forced Tebow into making quick decisions.

Jan 22, 2012 The Patriots squeeze by the Ravens due to a missed 32-yard field goal with 15 seconds left

by Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff. Brady was not his usual playoff self and did not play well, throwing two interceptions.

Greyhound Senior Night Schedule Girls Varsity Swimming Monday, January 30, 2012 at: 4:15PM vs. Rockwood Summit Boys Varsity Wrestling Wednesday, February 01, 2012 at: 4:30PM vs. Affton/Normandy Girls Varsity Basketball Thursday, February 09, 2012 at: 5:30PM vs. Ladue Boys Varsity Basketball/ Cheerleading/Dance Friday, February 17, 2012 at: 5:30PM vs. Berkeley *All games are home games, played at CHS PLAY BY PLAY

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Photos by Paul Lisker

DISTRICTS NEAR FOR GIRLS’ SWIM TEAM DAVID ANDROPHY

F

resh off a stunning 1st place performance at the tri-meet against Afton and Kennedy, the CHS Girls’ swimming team is building momentum as districts inch nearer and nearer.

The swim team is making tremendous strides from last year when CHS had just one swimmer make it to state with then freshman Danielle Sikora. They have already won several meets and several players are close to making state times this year. Senior Julia Grasse is nearing the benchmark for state qualifying in backstroke as Sikora could potentially qualify in several events. The team is also edging towards

I have been on varsity three years and we have never had a team that has worked so well together.

Senior Haley Wartman When you look at our game stats you will see a team that has everyone contribute to each game in some way.

Varsity Girls’ Coach Heath Kent

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the cut in the 200-meter relay.

However, some credit for the girls’ success in the swim tank should be given to Coach Katelyn Long.

“Coach Long has prepared us for meets by teaching us new skills in practice that we can work on throughout the season to improve on,” junior Dana Schwartz said.

In addition to technique, the team also works on strength and conditioning outside the swim pool.

To prepare for meets, Sikora said “we work on abs and shoulder strengthening alternating days to keep us in good shape outside the water to prevent shoulder injuries.”

Highlights from this year include the girls’ first-place victories at the University City and

the tri-meet along with a strong third-place performance at the Ladue Invitational.

The team’s strong mid-season performance at the meets is hopefully a prerequisite for districts in February when the team makes their push to qualify for state.

Hopefully, the team can rely on captains Grasse and Emma Vierod for senior leadership, particularly in the relays. Senior leadership is key, especially for underclassmen with little experience in high-pressure events.

Down the stretch, being able to gain momentum and working to improve will be key for a strong performance at districts. Schwartz sees this 2012 swimming squad as a “much stronger team that is constantly working hard to improve.” 

Girls’ Basketball: A team on FIRE 6

players scoring over 5 points per game

7

players averaging over 3 rebounds per game

7

wins for the Lady Greyhounds in their past eight games.

23 years since girls’ basketball won their last tournament.

6

Average Margin of Victory in the 8 game stretch

Anna DiFelice

IRON LADY

REVIEW

A LEGEND

LAURA BLEEKE hile watching “The Iron Lady,” I was continually reminded why Meryl Streep holds the record for most Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for an actor. Streep’s complete commitment to the impersonation of former English Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made up for what was lacking in the actual screenplay.

The film bounced from Thatcher’s past, as both a politician in her teens and twenties and as a middle-aged Prime Minister, to the present where she is struggling with the early stages of dementia.

Streep’s mastery of Thatcher’s distinct voice, body language, and intense personality left the viewer with an understanding of Margaret Thatcher as both a politician and a person.

Whether you support or oppose Thatcher’s views, it is impossible not to be drawn in by Streep’s portrayal of her commanding and unique mentality.

In some of the scenes from present day Thatcher believes that her husband is still alive, and she sees and talks to him. His silly personality and lightheartedness shows the more relaxed side of Thatcher and adds another dimension to her character.

The film’s script is somewhat lacking in depth and momentousness, but this weakness is heavily overshadowed by Streep’s portrayal of who Margaret Thatcher really was before, during, and after her unprecedentedly long 11-year reign as Prime Minister. 

W Courtesy of IMDB

THE GLOBIES BEST PICTURE The Artist

MCT Campus, Kirk McKoy

MCT Campus, Allen J. Schaben

Though the film is silent, that does not detract from its overall effect as a motion picture.

The movie is a brilliantly moving tribute to the time before the ‘talkies’.

BEST LEADING ACTRESS Viola Davis

George Clooney

His moving performance in “The Descendants” displayed a new side to his acting. With this powerful performance and his already stunning reputation, it is no surprise he is a nominee.

Courtesy of IMDB

MCT Campus, Kirk McKoy

Few could forget her heart-wrenching performance as Aibileen Clark in the instant classic, “The Help”.

This phenomenal actress has certainly proven herself Oscar-worthy.

BEST LEADING ACTOR

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Octavia Spencer

Her portrayal of a sassy, Southern woman brings spice to the emotionally riveting drama, “The Help”.

After seeing her witty performance she will certainly take home the gold.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Jonah Hill

His role as an Ivy League grad in “Moneyball” brings extra wit and power to the film. His successful break out of the funny sidekick mold should not go unoticed by the Academy.

Courtesy of IMDB

REVIEW

39

NICKELBACK’S ‘HERE AND NOW’ ALBUM

Courtesy of IMDB

SHERLOCK HOLMES

ACTION MYSTERY

JEFFREY FRIEDMAN

“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,” starring Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes, hooks its audience from the get-go. Entertaining and mysterious, this film is enjoyable for viewers of all ages.

Holmes, a detective in 1891, uses his unique powers of observation to go head to head with Professor James Moriarty, played by Jared Harris. Moriarty is a powerful European criminal mind and stopping his forces could prevent the collapse of Western civilization. But as Holmes said, “No pressure.”

Accompanied by Jude Law as Dr. John Watson and Noomi Rapace as Madam Simza Heron, Holmes takes on one of the most important cases in his career.

The film opens with a series of bombings and shootings which are bound to turn into much more, and it’s up to Holmes and his crew to put together the pieces of Moriarty’s dangerous game.

Now, with urban camouflage which allows him to blend in with modern day objects such as chairs and house plants, Holmes has the ability to further disguise himself from others.

One extremely entertaining factor of this film is attempting to predict and use prior information to crack the code in various situations, possibly even before Holmes does so.

The acting in this movie is convincing and keeps movie watchers constantly on their toes.

With one unexpected event leading to the next, “Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows” consists of suspense like no other. 

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REVIEW

NINA MUROV

http://www.guitarplanet.eu

They’ve been called the worst band of the decade, they’ve had multiple petitions signed specifically asking that they not perform, and they get criticism from just about every music critic out there—and yet, they have sold 50 million records world wide. Nickelback may not be able to please everyone, but one thing that those four Canadian boys can do, is create a catchy tune.

Nickelback released their 7th album, Here and Now on November 21, 2011. Unlike their last album, Dark Horse, they chose to self-produce this album. Here and Now isn’t anything different from Nickelback’s previous albums.

There are some raunchy songs, like “Midnight Queen,” “Gotta Get Me Some,” and “Everything I Wanna Do,” there are some hard rock songs, like “This Means War,” and then there are some melodic songs like “Lullaby” and “When We

Stand Together.”

My favorite on the album is “Lullaby.” The song is about a person suffering from severe depression, contemplating whether to end their life. As lead vocalist Chad Kroeger sings, “Just give it one more try/ With a lullaby/And turn this up on the radio/ if you can hear me now/ I’m reaching out/ to let you know that you’re not alone.” Not only is the song meaningful and compassionate, it has a great melody. If you like the song “Far Away” from Nickelback’s All the Right Reasons, then you’ll love “Lullaby.”

“Here and Now” has more of a drug, drinking and sex theme to it—and although those songs are funny, it can get maddening after a while. In the future, I hope the band sticks to making more songs like “Lullaby,” because that kind of music is what made me like the band in the first place. 

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

DARK THRILLER

EUDORA OLSEN

“She is different…in every way.” Lisbeth Salander is not your typical geeky computer hacker. Lisbeth deftly solves a murder mystery, seduces her detective partner, and revs up a Harley as the infamous protagonist in Stieg Larsson’s novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The screen adaptation, written by Steven Zaillian and directed by David Fincher, is a thrilling flick for those with strong stomachs.

Rooney Mara plays Lisbeth with the perfect edge. Mara’s accent and angst are executed with ease and the studs in her eyebrows compliment her fiery dialogue. Mara commands authority on screen as the lead female role. The actress embodies the ultimate paradox: a hard-core computer nerd.

Although some scenes are painful to watch (including a horrifying torture-tattooing scene), even the most graphic of scenes is somehow made tasteful. Mara and Daniel Craig, who

Courtesy of IMDB

plays journalist Mikael Blomkvist, have great chemistry as the duo search for a woman who has been missing for 40 years.

Craig’s straight-man acting is charming, but somewhat monotonous. He plays the innocent intellectual well, but he loses the passion for solving the mystery at times. The love scenes between Craig and Lisbeth are heated, and Craig’s commitment to the twisted romance is laudable. Overall, a decent performance by the former Bond.

The plot’s exciting and fast-moving. Although the movie is over two and a half hours (158 minutes), it still feels like you are in the theater for 30 minutes at most. The action scenes and fast dialogue keep the audience engaged throughout the lengthy film.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo has it all: love, death, and car explosions. What more could an adventure moviegoer ask for? 

HOW TO: GET A SNOW DAY Procuring a snow day is a temperamental and exacting science, requiring the perfect mixture of tradition, superstition, and sheer dumb luck. With a couple of near misses already under our belts, the Globe staff feels that it is time to clear up the mysteries surrounding this time-honored ritual.

1. SING

3. DRESS

2. FLUSH

4. SLEEP

“Frosty the Snowman” is always best, but other winter/snow-related songs will do. Make sure that you sing obnoxiously loud, hopefully to the annoyance of those around you. There’s nothing the Snow Gods like better than irritating a bunch of adults.

Got any ice cubes? Put ‘em down the toilet. Exact numbers vary, but the general expert consensus is at least six. To play it safe, just flush the entire ice box down. It’s a proven fact that cold toilet water = snow day.

For those of you in touch with your inner child, this one is the most fun: wear your comfiest, coziest pajamas backwards and inside out. Footsie pajamas are the ideal, of course, but you can get away with some nice thermals as well. Spend as much time as possible dressed like this.

Before everyone goes to sleep, place a spoon under their pillows (the jury is out on silver vs. wooden, but just make sure that they’re all made of the same materials). Your parents don’t like sleeping with utensils under their pillows, you say? Tough toenails. You’re getting yourself a snow day.

#

3.1 mph

Average speed of snowfall

430 in

Average yearly snowfall in Stampede Pass, the snow capital of the US

LINE OF INFAMY Marc Nozell/Flickr/Wikipedia

The Westboro Baptist Church, continuing in its rants against LGBT tolerance, plans to come to CHS to protest the Gay Straight Alliance.

Watch out, Obama. Democratic candidate Vermin Supreme, if elected, plans to institute policies of zombie apocalypse awareness and promises a pony for every American.

For those moments when you just want to scream.

Jennifer Hack/Kansas City Star/MCT

President Obama shouldn’t quit his day job. His recent rendition of soul singer Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” made us feel uncomfortable.

WorkerBee/Wikipedia

Celebrity chef Paula Dean recently announced that she has been diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes.

John Cage’s As Slow as Possible isn’t a composition you want to go hear. Not only is it for organ, but the piece is scheduled to end in 2640.

ABC News

REVIEW

41

COMMENTARY MON

TUE

WED

THU

FRI

Sunny & Beautiful

A Little Sunshine

Partly Cloudy

Afternoon Snow

Snow Schedule

45 38

41 34

36 25

28 17

29 21

FORECAST: SNOW SCHEDULE AHEAD The School District of Clayton should consider implementing its late start snow schedule to provide teachers and students with additional time to commute to school safetly.

STAFF EDITORIAL

S

now is a big deal in St. Louis. When a few flakes swirl into the metro area, everything seems to come a halt. Traffic is bumper-to-bumper, highways move slower than neighborhood roads, and it takes at least 20 minutes to cross Clayton. The Missouri Transportation Department (MoDot) releases an army of plows and salt trucks to combat the treacherous half-inch of snow.

It’s the night before a day like this when students of all ages across Clayton cross their fingers, flush ice cubes down the toilet, and procrastinate all their homework in the hopes of receiving a phone call from the School District of Clayton canceling school.

Yet, unfortunately there are slim odds for an all out snow day with only a thin blanket of

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COMMENTARY

snow. In reality, however, a few inches of snow late start would provide teachers with the needcan completely throw off the schedule of a nor- ed breathing room and time to prepare for their mal school day as teachers and students who upcoming day of classes. live outside of Clayton struggle to commute However, the administration has yet to declare the first snow day schedule for the Disacross the congested St. Louis region.

Often times, many of the buses from the trict. As a result, we encourage the administraCity end up running late with inclimatic weath- tion to act when the time is right in calling the er. In these situations, we recommend that the first-ever snow schedule for the District. administration impleA snow schedule can be seen as a middle ment a snow schedule A snow schedule would ensure ground option for when for the School District that everyone arrives to school there is not enough of Clayton.

Last year, the adsafely and on time. snow for a snow day, ministration approved but there is enough of a need from students and a new snow schedule for the District where the school day would teachers alike for an additional hour to comsimply start a hour later than normal like a Late mute to school.

Ultimately, a snow schedule would ensure Start Day. This extra hour would provide many teachers and students with the necessary addi- that everyone arrives to school safely and on tional time to commute to school. Moreover, a time. ďƒź

2012

THE BEGINNING OF THE END MARIA MASSAD

A

JACK HOLDS

A DIGITAL WORLD cosmology. No matter how late, he is always there at www.khanacademy.org. Khan Academy is great resource with over 2,600 free videos. As his summer, CHS will test-run an online a result of being a highly visited website, over course for Personal Finance. As the dis- 100 million lessons have been taught by this trict and the nation shifts evermore to one man, “Sal”. The aspect of Khan Academy the use of online classes, an important question that makes it so revolutionary is that it allows arises: Is this transition for the better? students to attain an education at their own State education funds across the country are pace and learn more about the things they want using tens of millions of dollars to implement to study while also taking or reviewing the basic more technology into the classroom. In Idaho, courses. You only need to put forth the effort public schools are now requiring students to and the time to learn something new. Through take some online courses to earn enough credits “Sal,” I have learned about countless, fascinatto graduate and are also ing new things, like distributing laptops or Online programs open the flood- fossils in Africa and the tablets to all students. golden ratio. gates of education and cause Although numerous In many ways, people to learn the materials educational sites level teachers place a heavy emphasis on technolthat they would not have had the academic playing ogy, many teachers are field because so much access to otherwise. knowledge is accesresisting the move to sible and taught in an making technology a prominent part of the classroom. Many value efficient and easily understandable way. Online using the Socratic method in the classroom in- programs open the floodgates of education and stead, and, to keep technology out of the class- cause people to learn the materials that they room, they gathered almost 75,000 signatures would not have had access to otherwise. Khan to repeal a new law that requires the use of tech- Academy and other online programs are great places to help self-motivated students progress nology in schools.

However, you will not find me in that group their learning and help them succeed. Educators of protestors. Previous hedge-fund analyst will have to continue to find a way to balance Salman Khan, who attended MIT and Harvard, their teaching between the traditional fashion helps me weekly to review math and overall of lecture and discussion and drawing upon the teach me things that are not currently taught at valuable tools of new educational websites that CHS, such as the Koch’s Snowflake fractal and have more focus on teaching digitally. 

PETER SHUMWAY

T

h, yes, 2012 is finally here – a new year, a chance to renew and improve ourselves. Wait - 2012 is here! Clearly, now is the time to panic.

According to the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, the now-famous Mayan calendar, the world is scheduled to end on Dec. 21, 2012.

Many people have become proponents of this now-urban legend. Some even are suggesting that Earth will collide with a large planetary object called Nibiru.

I count myself as one of those who have enough common sense to know that this is fairly improbable.

Consider: Other so-called “prophets” have predicted the end of the world before – remember last year, when Harold Camping somehow foresaw the so-called Rapture? As we all know, this never actually happened – because we are all clearly still here.

In fact, doomsday theories are nothing new.

Possibly the most well-known almost-but-notquite-apocalypse was in 1999, when people thought that the world would end in 2000, because it was the turn of the century and the start of a new millennium. Pop artist Prince made this fear famous through his song “1999.”

However, there was nothing to fear, since nothing happened.

There is no reason to fear this apocalyptic prediction. Just because one calendar made by an ancient civilization ends on that date there is no cause for this frenzy.

However, it is cause for reflection. 2012 is a chance for a new beginning. If the world were hypothetically going to end soon, I, for one, would want to ensure that I live life to its fullest, repair broken relationships, and make sure that the people dearest to me know that I truly love them.

2012 is a reason to hope for something better and to improve the lives of others.

In other words, 2012 is the perfect opportunity to carpe diem.

So, maybe the world is not going to end, but is that any reason not to live life to its fullest?

No. 2012 is the chance to carpe diem.  COMMENTARY

43

THE BATTLE OF THE BREWS JOCELYN LEE

C

SHUYANG LI

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othing is quite so simple, so delicate, and yet holds so much lose your eyes. Inhale. Let the first wisps of the warm aroma drift potential as the tea leaf. The lightest touch can shatter a dried past your nostrils. Embrace the robustness, the texture, the sweet leaf, but when dropped into water, it suffuses the beverage pungency as you breathe in deeply. Open your eyes. Wake up, and with gentility and elegance. smell the coffee.

Perhaps tea is best summarized in the words of 19th-century prime Although I am no coffee connoisseur, I do have a great appreciation for minister of England Wilthe coffee bean (which is liam Gladstone: “If you technically not really a are cold, tea will warm bean, but rather a dried you. If you are too heated, seed). it will cool you. If you are For starters, it has depressed, it will cheer history. Since its first you. If you are excited, it appearance, coffee has will calm you.” generally been conWhen one drinks tea, sumed and enjoyed one imbibes five thouby all levels of society. sand years of culture.

Monks used it to preIndeed, regardless of era, pare for more wakeful tea retains an aura of omstates of prayer; many nipresence.

Enlightenment figures Chinese emperors ruof 18th century Europe minated over grand philogathered at coffeesophical ideals while siphouses to discuss and ping tea; Buddhist priests debate; and Pope Clemproclaimed it an essential ente VII announced his part of the “elixir of life.” blessing on the beverGreen tea was a staple age. In European hisof high culture in China, tory especially, coffee Japan, Korea -- all over has often been a center Asia. In the sixteenth and or gathering point for seventeenth centuries, both revolutionary and the beverage had spread intellectual activity. through Europe, where it Today, this still holds was a mark of a cultured true to a certain extent, life. as coffee shops and caOne notes that Affés are far from few in ternoon Tea became an urban areas and often essential part of British serve as a place for sotradition, one of the most cializing and studying. recognizable signs of life In addition (and, in the United Kingdom. perhaps, more imporYet, as tea gained the tantly), coffee is a terrifdistinction of a high-class ic early morning drink. drink, it was also adopted There is no denying that by the common man. a good percentage of Illustration: 300 dpi Marie Guglielmo color illustration of (description). Wilkes-Barre Times Leader 2007 Frank McCourt recalls coffee drinkers begin eating tea and bread on a drinking coffee for the benefits of the caffeine. I know that I, for one, am one of those people. daily basis as a poor Irish boy in the twentieth century.

Little wonder, of course. Tea is lauded for its health benefits. It conWhen consumed in moderation – something I strongly encourage – coffee can help increase attention and concentration. Or, as my dad likes to put it, tains antioxidants, reduces stress, and can help prevent heart disease and type I diabetes.

“Coffee makes you smarter!”

One does need to drink a lot of tea to get a buzz, however: tea conFinally, coffee just tastes good, and it’s versatile – it can be enjoyed in an infinite number of ways. A cappuccino. Dark chocolate infused with tains about half the caffeine content of coffee.

So go ahead, sit back and brew a cup of tea: Oolong, Green, Black, espresso beans. A steaming cup of coffee alongside cinnamon coffeecake (excellent comfort food). Coffee ice cream. There is no question: the coffee White - each delicious. After all, there is no beverage more ancient, healthy, or noble.  bean has a lot to offer. 

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COMMENTARY

FAR OFF TRAVELS HIT HOME PIKACHU, I CHOOSE YOU

Dee Luo

JACK HOLDS

A

Courtesy of Jake Lee

Jake Lee poses with children from Nicaraguan village on a medical trip this past Winter Break. is in medicine.

I measured glucose levels and blood pressures of patients in the different rural villages. o me, traveling to foreign countries I aided the medical students in handing them has become a lifestyle. When I visthe correct drugs for the various illnesses we ited Haiti over the summer for three encountered. After a couple hours, the purweeks, the experience was amazing, but, at poses of the drugs became common knowledge. the same time, ordinary. What was at first unI examined the medical students and the genfamiliar and discomforting changed to daily eral internist and listened attentively as if I was activities and responsibilities. Thus, when their worried patient.

I was asked to join a team that would do a Symptoms for various illnesses became medical mission trip in Nicaragua over winter familiar to me and, with a little help from my break, I simply accepted.

Spanish-speaking colleagues, I was able to make I had not prepared at all for the trip and a couple accurate diagnoses. I soon began to remy mind was wrapped around upcoming fi- alize how foolish it was for me to underestimate nals. Though I had contemplated for numerous the importance of the experience. I was naïve hours before I fell asleep for my previous trips, in believing that I had already seen the whole the trip to Nicaragua world.

I was naïve in believing that I came around like a Though commuchore. The morning had already seen the whole world. nity service does bring after finals, I drove a great feeling of beto the airport daydreaming about what I would ing needed and depended upon, the most imhave for lunch. portant part about it is the desire to serve As soon as I arrived in Nicaragua, I got right and the effort to make a difference in people’s to work. Despite my several trips out of the lives. There’s little difference between running country, I had never been on a medical mission events for kids with autism in the United States trip. Instead of dealing with basic needs, the and feeding starving children in Haiti. primary focus was on medical attention. I was At the end of the day, both events fulfill their one of two high school students on the team, purpose: making someone’s life a little happier. and thus, knew little about medicine.

It’s easy to make some room in your schedule to I worked beside a third-year medical stu- do a couple hours of volunteer work. However, dent, college students fluent in Spanish, and a it’s not easy to do it with complete compassion general internist. I thought I would be extreme- and maintain a desire to dedicate oneself fully ly helpful from being used to the conditions of to helping another. The next time you volunthird world countries. However, I was just an teer, evaluate yourself. Make sure to distinguish assistant and did basic tasks. Yet, I wasn’t dis- between duty and desire. The attitude you bring appointed; rather, I was thrilled. My trip to Ni- makes a huge difference for the less unfortucaragua confirmed the fact that my true calling nate. 

JAKE LEE

T

s I plod through waist-deep vegetation, I suddenly catch sight of rustling grass.

The rustling gets louder, and I begin to back up, but whatever foul beast stalks me is now closing in for the kill. It’s too late to run.

My hand swings to my hip and fumbles in my fanny pack as a battle melody crescendoes at some unseen source. In an act of desperation, I hurl a red and white Pokéball toward my pursuer.

“Pikachu, I choose you!”

A wild Pidgey emerges from the grass, and I order my nimble Pikachu to dispatch the unwelcome guest. Before Pikachu can act, though, the birdlike Pidgey barrels into my yellow friend, who is sent careening. Pikachu quickly regains his footing, and I seize the opportunity.

“Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!”

A volley of lightning bolts appears out of the sky and crashes down upon the vulnerable Pidgey, who faints, crumpling into a heap of exhaustion. I run up to my Pikachu and hug him for his valiant efforts.

Such is the reality I have dreamed of since I first played the Pokémon Red and Blue videogames as a young boy. The epic adventure and intimate companionships of the Pokémon world have tempted me to explore and battle for hours and hours.

Only when I pull my head up from the screen does my heart sink at the realization that my Pikachu is not real, and I am not on a quest to be the greatest trainer in the land. If Pokémon were real, and if children could skip school to pursue League Champion status, I would have donned a fanny pack with a sandwich and sleeping bag long ago and embarked on my quest.

With Pikachu at my side as a companion, I would be light in spirit; we would share a loyal, noble bond as do human and dog.

Over time, I have accepted that Pokémon are creatures of a virtual world, and will be forever.

But every now and then, I return to my juvenile hope and boot up my Gameboy Color to see the words appear on the screen, ”Pikachu, I choose you!”  COMMENTARY

45

CURTAIN CALL

Fractions with Freese

From m=3 to MVP, math teacher Jane Glenn talks about her experience teaching St. Louis baseball hero David Freese.

J

ane Glenn, CHS math teacher, taught World Series MVP David Freese at Lafayette High School in Wildwood, Missouri.

She sat down to talk about him with Globe reporter Peter Baugh.

What year of high school was David Freese in when you taught him?

David was my student his junior year in algebra two. Then, his senior year, he was a cadet teacher. This means that when I was teaching a class he would run errands for me, or grade papers, or help students. I saw him once a day for two full years.

Did you consider yourself to have a close relationship with him when he was in high school?

Yes. Sometimes it’s hard to really connect with kids, but when they chose to be your cadet, it gives a teacher a special relationship where they are taking on some responsibility and you can see them grow as a person. The teacher becomes a person the student feels they can touch base with if there’s something wrong. If they forget something, I’d be the one to supply extra pens, paper, and whatever else they may need.

Was David Freese a good student?

He was. He was in algebra two, which was not the honors course, but he probably could have made it in honors if he had decided to. As a high school student he wasn’t really interested in being a book worm, but he did very well.

What were his best qualities as a student?

He didn’t really let anything get him down, which is a trait he carried to his baseball career.

Did he struggle with anything in your classes?

Not really in math. I think in high school we didn’t challenge him enough. He could have been in the honors track. Sometimes high school is just a growing up period. He wasn’t striving to be the star student, but later on he decided that baseball was his goal, reached for it and got it.

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CURTAIN CALL

Rebecca Stiffleman

Is he a good role model for students here at Clayton?

Yes, because I know he is a good person at heart. You can talk about the DUIs (Freese has had two DUIs, the latest in December of 2009) and that is a part of growing up that a lot of people have gone through. He made mistakes.

We all have, but he can show you where hard work can get you and what choosing a goal and sticking with it can get.

What were your emotions watching him throughout the postseason?

I was pinching myself saying, “Is this really the kid that I knew?” Its just hard to believe he got that far and was so excited.

What should students take from him in his journey with sports?

Stay with it and conquer. He was in the minor leagues, and how many years has it taken him? He is 29. He has had lots of injuries, many would have given up. He could have said, “I’ve worked too hard, I want to do something else.”

He could have chosen a different career, but he stuck with his dream. 