Devil's Advocate (Volume 34, Number 4, May 2018)

devil’s advocate stanton college preparatory school

Movement of Voices

By Salma Drew Recent gun violence in schools and other public spaces has sparked a national movement amongst students who seek to prevent further harm through activism.

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Stanton College Preparatory School

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Student Life

Golden Apple/Silver Star The Devil’s Advocate profiles the winners of the 2018 Golden Apple and Silver Star awards.

By Phong Huynh and Jake Nachman

Features

Movement Of Voices The Parkland shooting has changed the debate on school safety—at Stanton and across the nation.

By Salma Drew Cover Photo By Dani Brewer

Sports

Bandwagons New support has emerged for the Jaguars and Stanton’s football team—but only after two phenomenal seasons.

By Zachary Genus

Photography

From The Beginning See how graduating students transformed from freshman to senior year.

By Dani Brewer, Prachi Misra and Katie Stevens

Features

Senior Issue The Devil’s Advocate’s tribute to the graduating class, featuring a meme bracket, photo pages and senior columns.

By the Devil’s Advocate staff

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photo by Katie Stevens

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photo by Katie Stevens

photo by Katie Stevens

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Opinions

Editorials The Devil’s Advocate’s Editorial Board shares their thoughts on college and life after Stanton.

By the Editorial Board

Opinions

Columns Contributing writers reflect on Jacksonville’s cinematic history, perfectionism at Stanton and the modern film industry.

By Jacob Elder, Gibson Grimm and Raha Riazati

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The Record

May 2018 Amra Kajdic’s compilation of the numbers, names and notions you need to know.

By Amra Kajdic

Editor’s Letter

photo by Dani Brewer

Walker Miller Editor-in-Chief

In our “Meet the Staff” video from this autumn, Features Editor Rohini Kumar says “The newspaper has kind of become my thing. Some people have football or band, but journalism is my thing.”

It’s not the most poetic quote, but it stuck with me since then.

Rohini (who, I am proud to say, will serve as Editor-in-Chief next year) briefly revealed the kind of

motivation that drives all of us on the Devil’s Advocate.

Over the past four years, through countless after-school sessions and missed deadlines and power outages and intense arguments, the Devil’s Advocate has become my thing, too. I couldn’t imagine going through high school without the chance to work for this newspaper and to bond with the other people who have.

To Trystan, Mary Allison,

Contributing Advocates: The Devil’s Advocate is searching for contributing writers, photographers, artists and filmmakers.

Contact Editor-in-Chief Walker Miller at walkertmiller@gmail.com, Opinions Editor Likhita Manchikanti at likhi.2201@gmail.com or Digital Media Editor Chisom Ukoha at cukoha@gmail.com.

Ads and Sponsorships: The Devil’s Advocate is dependent on our advertisers and our sponsors. When you purchase an ad with us, it reaches a diverse student population that can help your business. We can also design your ads. Our prices are: $35 (1/4 page), $60 (1/2 page), $75 (insert), $100 (full page b/w) or $150 (back page color). Contact Public Relations Manager Amra Kajdic at amrakajdic1@gmail.com or our adviser, Mr. Larry Knight, at knightl1@duvalschools.org.

may 2018

Chisom, Liam and Dani: I love you so much and thank you for helping me make an amazing paper these past few years.

To the juniors and sophomores who will be leading the paper next year: Thank you for putting up with me and for the phenomenal content you produced this year.

But none of the Devil’s Advocate’s achievements would have been possible without the uniqueness of Stanton itself. It

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Printed at Florida Sun Printing, Callahan, Fla. Please recycle this newspaper.

takes a special kind of school to sustain the kind of journalism we do. So to all the students, teachers, parents, staff and administrators who have given us the support we need to succeed: thank you.

Most of all, thank you, Mr. Knight. For everything.

Adviser: Larry Knight Editor-in-Chief: Walker Miller Managing Editors: Mary Allison Kane, Trystan Loustau Layout and Design Editor: Liam Ngo Senior Photography Editor: Dani Brewer Digital Media Editor: Chisom Ukoha Associate Digital Media Editor: Bettina Huang Digital Media Writer: Brandon Deda Public Relations Manager: Amra Kajdic Features Editor: Rohini Kumar Opinions Editor: Likhita Manchikanti Sports Editor: Emmett Gideon Student Life Editor: Zahra Casado Staff Writers: Christa Assi, Salma Drew, Tatyana Esquilin, Zachary Genus, Phong Huynh, Sydney Lewis, Jake Nachman Photographers: Prachi Misra, Katie Stevens

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Student Life

Golden Apple

BY JAKE NACHMAN, Staff Writer

At Stanton, it is no secret that many students take a multitude of rigorous Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate courses. These students rely on their teachers to facilitate their success in these courses. One teacher who exceptionally demonstrates the ability to guide students to excel in their studies is Mr. Herbig.

“Mr. Herbig is a hardworking teacher, he is a true team player, very loyal to Stanton, loves children and tutors students from chemistry to math with no duress,” said Stanton principal Mrs. Nongongoma Majova-Seane.

Mr. Aaron Herbig received the 24th Annual Golden Apple award given in recognition of an outstanding teacher at Stanton College Preparatory School. Mr. Herbig has been at Stanton for six years and currently teaches Chemistry Honors and Advanced Placement Chemistry.

“Mr. Herbig who will go out of his way to help you with anything you need help with,” said junior Savannah Benedict.

“He will tutor you after school for as long as you need. He is here after school every single day; he is here before school.

He does whatever he can to make sure that you know what you are doing.”

Mr. Herbig’s passion for helping his students succeed is shown through his understanding personality and his commitment to teaching the material in an informative yet creative manner. He feels a great amount of satisfaction when he is able to see a student truly grasping the material he teaches.

“As a teacher, you live for that moment when you see the kids light up and go ‘I understand that,’ especially when

it’s something complex, like chemistry,” said Mr. Herbig.

Mr. Herbig began his teaching career at Stanton in 2012 after teaching at Yulee High School for four years.

Prior to this, Mr. Herbig served as a chemical officer in the U.S. Army, specializing in nuclear biological chemical warfare.

After that, he ran a hazardous waste disposal business in Chicago. However, a teaching job allowed him to combine his knowledge of chemistry with his desire to teach.

“I have always wanted to be a teacher,” said Mr. Herbig. “I love teaching kids. I love being in a classroom teaching. I think the only excuse to ever be a teacher is that you love the subject so much you just want Mr. Herbig in to share it with other people.”

Mr. Herbig’s thorough and organized teaching methods ensure that his students are prepared and well-equipped to perform at a high level. His students champion his effectiveness, noting how they always feel engaged during his lessons.

photo by Katie Stevens

his classroom in the middle of a lecture.

“He is jovial and very nonchalant when it comes to teaching but when it comes time to be serious he has a tendency to be able to give you the knowledge that you need to succeed,” said senior Brian Bourassa. “When I was struggling in his class, he did not hesitate to help me”

Silver Star

BY PHONG HUYNH, Staff Writer

person for their performance and contributions to the school. This year, Ms. May Ibasco, a guidance counselor and the Multicultural Student Association (Multi) sponsor, is the recipient of the 17th annual Silver Star award.

Ms. Ibasco has a master’s degree in education with inschool counseling components from the University of North Florida.

Originally, she planned to pursue psychiatry, but it did not fit what she had in mind.

With her friend’s encouragement, she started to look into student. school counseling.

During her last year at the graduate school level, Ms. Ibasco completed an internship for her graduate program at Stanton and eventually took a counseling job at Stanton in 2009.

According to current and former students, Ms. Ibasco is known for her warm persona that has influenced the lives of photo by Katie Stevens

Ms. Ibasco advising a The staff members at Stanton College Preparatory School play an integral role in the daily operations of the school, and their contributions have served to create a safe, stable school environment. To celebrate the accomplishments of a Stanton staff member, students recently recognized one exceptional

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the students. Her relatability and transparency with students are some of the many reasons for her being named the Silver Star recipient. Her strong rapport with students lets them know they are welcome to seek guidance.

“She is very approachable to anyone even if you don’t get her alphabetically or have a dire problem with classes or scheduling; she’ll still be willing to talk to you about anything that is going on,” said senior and Multi president Trisha Willie.

“Whether it’s academic or emotional, she is very open about accepting anyone and everyone that walks into her office.”

Ms. Ibasco’s interactions with students, whether in her office or outside of school hours, are essential to the positive and lasting impact she has on students. In fact, her relationships with students create a sense of trust and familiarity gaining the respect of school administrators “Ms. Ibasco is a very hardworking, caring and loving guidance counselor,” said Stanton principal Mrs. Nongongoma Majova-Seane. “I feel comfortable entrusting her to nurture and support the students.”

In 2012, Mrs. Ibasco became involved in Multi as a cosponsor and became the main sponsor the following year. As the sponsor, she has ensured the continuation and success of a long-standing tradition of Stanton’s culture.

“I get to work with [students] outside of the academic setting, so it’s really nice to see how they are as far as it comes to leadership,” said Ms. Ibasco.

Her primary motivation to her job comes from the bonds she forms with the students.To her, the students are what make her job special and worth her time.

“The students pull me here and that is what keeps me going,” said Ms. Ibasco. “It’s having the interactions with the students and it’s enriched even more because of Multi.”

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Movement of Voices

By SALMA DREW, Staff Writer

Recent gun violence inschools and other public spaces has sparked a national movement among students who seek to prevent further harm through activism.

On April 20, 2018, at exactly 11:50 a.m., hundreds of Stanton College Preparatory School students walked out of their third period classrooms and onto the football field. For one hour, they denounced the lack of strict gun control legislation and pushed for more stringent school security protocols. The walkout had been in the works since the Feb. 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in which 17 people were killed, making it the second-deadliest school shooting in American history.

According to PBS Newshour, the United States has the most mass shootings per year out of all developed countries. Shootings in the U.S. in the last decade have notoriously occurred in bars, malls, schools and at concerts. Although initial press coverage is common for all mass shootings, the students at Stoneman Douglas decided, according to survivor senior Emma González, “it’s time for victims to be the change that we need to see.” Students around the nation, inspired by the outspokenness of the Stoneman Douglas students, planned protests and school walkouts within their local communities to make their voices heard.

“We are making our voices heard, and we are making a movement,” said Stanton junior Maggie Herrera, who participated in the National School Walkout on March 14. “[The National School Walkout] is happening nationwide, and participating in this makes such a big impact because it is for improving the safety of the student body not just in one specific school, but in all schools across the nation.”

Though the marches and walkouts have been successful in making the desires of students across the nation known to politicians, appeals for tighter restrictions on gun control have largely been ignored by legislators on state and federal levels. As a result, the responsibility has been placed on schools to create and enforce safer emergency protocols in the case of an active shooter. Many potential solutions have been offered: some politicians suggest teachers should be equipped with guns to defend their students. According to WOKV News, as of May 2, 2018, Duval County Public Schools has decided to move forward with the plan to place armed assistants on school campuses starting next school year. Since the shooting, school safety has taken on several new meanings and schools have taken on new responsibilities as students, teachers and parents try to determine how best to keep students safe at Stanton and across the nation.

“The safety of our schools and our communities is a shared goal of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s office and Duval County Public Schools,” said DCPS Superintendent Dr. Patricia Willis in a February 2018 interview with News4Jax.

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Movement of Voices

By SALMA DREW, Staff Writer

Recent gun violence inschools and other public spaces has sparked a national movement among students who seek to prevent further harm through activism.

On April 20, 2018, at exactly 11:50 a.m., hundreds of Stanton College Preparatory School students walked out of their third period classrooms and onto the football field. For one hour, they denounced the lack of strict gun control legislation and pushed for more stringent school security protocols. The walkout had been in the works since the Feb. 14, 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., in which 17 people were killed, making it the second-deadliest school shooting in American history.

According to PBS Newshour, the United States has the most mass shootings per year out of all developed countries. Shootings in the U.S. in the last decade have notoriously occurred in bars, malls, schools and at concerts. Although initial press coverage is common for all mass shootings, the students at Stoneman Douglas decided, according to survivor senior Emma González, “it’s time for victims to be the change that we need to see.” Students around the nation, inspired by the outspokenness of the Stoneman Douglas students, planned protests and school walkouts within their local communities to make their voices heard.

“We are making our voices heard, and we are making a movement,” said Stanton junior Maggie Herrera, who participated in the National School Walkout on March 14. “[The National School Walkout] is happening nationwide, and participating in this makes such a big impact because it is for improving the safety of the student body not just in one specific school, but in all schools across the nation.”

Though the marches and walkouts have been successful in making the desires of students across the nation known to politicians, appeals for tighter restrictions on gun control have largely been ignored by legislators on state and federal levels. As a result, the responsibility has been placed on schools to create and enforce safer emergency protocols in the case of an active shooter. Many potential solutions have been offered: some politicians suggest teachers should be equipped with guns to defend their students. According to WOKV News, as of May 2, 2018, Duval County Public Schools has decided to move forward with the plan to place armed assistants on school campuses starting next school year. Since the shooting, school safety has taken on several new meanings and schools have taken on new responsibilities as students, teachers and parents try to determine how best to keep students safe at Stanton and across the nation.

“The safety of our schools and our communities is a shared goal of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s office and Duval County Public Schools,” said DCPS Superintendent Dr. Patricia Willis in a February 2018 interview with News4Jax.

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Features Safety at Stanton According to News4Jax, 81 out of 197 Duval County Public Schools need safety upgrades. Like all schools, Stanton College Preparatory School is not immune to the threat of a school shooter or any other type of attack.

Stanton has an open, outdoor layout, which allows students to spend time before and after classes socializing, eating and studying.

Stanton’s location, combined with its open design, raises some concerns regarding the security of the school and the safety of students.

Several obvious safety protocols are already in place.

Stanton is equipped with security guards Ms. Verina Bailey, Mr. Otis Dunson, Mr. Johnny Lewis and DCPS School Resource Officer Stefanie Walker. Standard safety precautions at Stanton and many other schools include locked doors, covered windows and regular drills to help students prepare for intruders and shootings as well as fires and weather disasters. The school administration also monitors the campus through security cameras and conducts regular random searches of students’ belongings and lockers.

“We do have a lot of security measures in place,” said Officer Walker. “[The students] know about code reds, which is the basic thing that all students in Duval County should know, but we also have extreme security measures in place. They are secrets, [so] we are definitely safe and secure here.”

After the Stoneman Douglas shooting, new security procedures were enforced to ensure the safety of the school. For obvious security reasons, Stanton’s higherlevel safety protocol is kept confidential.

However, the administration wants to make it known that security concerns are being addressed constantly and new security suggestions from students and teachers are welcome. Although the safety protocol of the school cannot be disclosed to the public, the administration would like the students to know they encourage students to continue expressing safety concerns in order to make Stanton a safer environment for everyone.

“My hope is that the students do feel safe here at Stanton, knowing that the administration makes every effort to keep image obtained from Google Images

who became activists, such as Stoneman Douglas seniors Emma González and David Hogg, to the leaders of Stanton’s walkout, high school students across the nation are fighting to put an end to gun violence in the U.S. Their efforts have sparked discussion on the impact high school students can truly make in America.

The #NeverAgain movement has precedent in other influential student protests throughout American history such as the Greensboro sit-ins of the 1960s and the Vietnam War protests of the 1980s. High school students today, such as the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas shooting and others who participated in walkouts, are hopeful for the future because they are determined to change history.

“Many young people now as [student Civil Rights protesters] did then are saying, ‘We are not going to take this anymore,’” said Mr. Rodney Hurst, who became president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Youth Council when he was 15 and led the Jacksonville Civil Rights lunch counter sit-ins when he was

Youth leadership will be with us as long as we have young minds... who seek to right some of the wrongs of American society.

—Mr. Rodney Hurst just 16. “Youth leadership will be with us as long as we have young minds who are affected and seek change, and who seek to right some of the wrongs of American society.”

The sustained national attention on the Stoneman Douglas shooting sparked a noticeable change in the way Americans view gun violence and school safety. According to the Washington Post, in the two weeks after the shooting, over 7,900 stories about the shooting were written by U.S. media outlets, compared to 2,600 stories following the Sutherland Springs shooting and 4,200 following the shooting

photo obtained from Google Images

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School senior Emma González has become one of the main faces of the gun control movement. in Las Vegas. Part of this long-term preoccupation with the Stoneman Douglas shooting is due to the immediate activism of the survivors. Just hours after the shooting, the Stoneman Douglas students took to Twitter to express their feelings on school safety and on the condition of gun violence in the community.

“All we are aiming for here is stricter gun laws that make it harder for people to get guns (because it shouldn’t be easier than getting a driver’s license) and the removal of Military Grade Weapons from civilian society,” read a tweet from González on Feb. 25, 2018.

In the following weeks, González, Hogg and Stoneman Douglas juniors Cameron Kasky and Sarah Chadwick became known for their bold statements condemning Congress and the National Rifle Association. The students

We are making our voices heard, and we are making a movement.

—Maggie Herrera, 11th them safe and to provide them with an environment that is conducive for learning,” said Assistant Principal Mr. Michael Kerr. “I also hope that students continue to come forward and let administration know of anything they hear about that could compromise the safety of the environment.”

Student Leadership After the shooting at Stoneman Douglas, several student leaders emerged across the nation in what became known as the #NeverAgain movement. From victims of the shooting

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photo by Prachi Misra

Stanton’s four security personnel (from left): Mr. Otis Dunson, Ms. Verina Bailey, DCPS School Resource Officer Stefanie Walker and Mr. Johnny Lewis

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photo by Prachi Misra

Freshman Miriam Alrahil making a speech at the Rally for Safety on April 20, 2018. The rally lasted an hour, during which individuals gave speeches and The Expressionists performed.

“The walkout [has been] this discussion on all sides, and I [reached] out to all minority organizations at Stanton. It was suggested that we call it the Rally for Safety,” said Quick.

“I tried to get the walkout to be more of an intersectional debate than what we are seeing on TV, which is this onesided argument about gun control.”

The Rally for Safety aimed to be an open forum for students with differing opinions to engage in discussion and debate regarding solutions of the gun violence issue in society. Through national walkouts such as Stanton’s Rally for Safety, students in the nation today hope to be the voice of change in gun violence for generations to come.

Changes in Legislation

infographic by Rohini Kumar

organized a National School Walkout on March 14, 2018, exactly one month after the shooting. Students nationwide, including Stanton students, walked out of their high schools for 17 minutes in order to commemorate the 17 lives lost in the Stoneman Douglas shooting. This was followed by the March For Our Lives, a student-led nationwide protest on March 24, 2018.

These walkouts and marches pushed for tighter gun legislation, especially stricter background checks on those who wish to purchase guns. Protesters also want to see the banning of AR-15 assault rifles—semiautomatic weapons which have been deemed “the most popular rifle in America” by the NRA and have become notorious for their use in mass shootings, such as the ones at Pulse nightclub, Stoneman Douglas and a Century 16 movie theater in Aurora, Colorado.

The National School Walkout, another nationwide protest organized by students, was held on April 20, 2018—the 19th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre.

At Stanton, students organized a walkout called the “Rally for Safety,” a subset of the broader national movement.

Its organizers, senior Chisom Ukoha and juniors Alvin Gunnion, RaeAnn Quick and Janey Wolff, aimed to create an intersectional environment in which students from all walks of life could make their opinions on school safety heard.

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In the weeks after the shooting at Stoneman Douglas, Florida lawmakers were met a profusion of bills proposing different forms of gun control. Several new laws placing restrictions on gun ownership were passed, including ones that raised the legal age for buying a gun to 21, implemented a three-day waiting period for the purchase of a rifle and imposed restrictions on the possession of bump stocks. The Stoneman Douglas students also proposed a ban on highpowered semi-automatic rifles such as the one used in the shooting; however, this proposal was rejected, along with many others deemed “red flag” legislation, which would have allowed judges to take away guns from people deemed dangerous, One potential reason for the lack of new legislation is the lack of funding for gun violence research.

The Dickey Amendment, passed by Congress in 1996, inhibits government research in gun violence by restricting any funds for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from promoting advocacy for gun control.

Several important questions regarding gun violence in the U.S. remain unaddressed because there is no government database to keep record of mass shootings or the number of annual wounds and fatalities caused by firearms. However, according to the Washington Post, both Republicans and Democrats have recently expressed interest in lifting the restrictions implemented by the bill.

Even though national gun control laws have stalled, the majority of U.S. adults seem to support stricter gun legislation.

According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center in February 2018, 89 percent favored preventing those with mental illnesses from buying guns, and 68 percent favored banning assault-style weapons.

“Assault rifles are military-grade weapons that shouldn’t be in the hands of civilians,” said freshman Sarah Copeland, who spoke at the Rally for Safety. “By getting rid of them to an extent and cutting down on the accessibility to them, our country can become a lot safer.”

Conflicts arise with any proposed solution, however.

Some students are concerned that the increase in police and security protocol in schools may be threatening to students of color, while others feel that guns are not the issue at hand, and banning guns will not solve the problem.

“I think we need to understand how important [guns] are to this country, and how guns have this huge importance to us and they are such a big thing in our society,” said junior Sam Woods. “The sudden change isn’t really feasible. Asking for such a large change when guns are such a huge part of our society is a lot to ask.”

Because gun violence is a multifaceted issue, most students believe the solution is not as simple as banning guns or putting more restrictions on guns. For these reasons, many people believe the issue cannot be solved from one side, but from all demographics coming together to create a solution that benefits everyone in society.

“America is full of minorities and prejudices, and those minorities need to be represented when we are talking about the gun control issue, so I believe that the walkout needs to be more than just ‘guns are bad, we need gun control,’” said Quick.

“We do need gun control, but we need to hear all sides and solutions because we will not achieve anything if we don’t listen to multiple facets of what the problem is.”

The issue of gun violence may not have a simple solution.

Most Stanton students can agree that efforts to prevent further tragedy cannot be effective unless all sides of the argument are taken into consideration, because concerns exist for every solution. However, a new feeling of hope for the movement has emerged with the upsurge of student activism after the Stoneman Douglas shooting, which, along with the collaboration of student views and opinions, can create a safer future for Americans.

We need to hear all sides and solutions because we will not achieve anything if we don’t listen to multiple facets of what the problem is.

—RaeAnn Quick, 11th

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Sports

B A N D W A G O N S Student support for Stanton College Preparatory School’s sports teams has fluctuated depending on the success of these teams, reflecting a larger trend in the sports industry.

By ZACH GENUS, Staff Writer In the 2017–2018 sports year, both the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Stanton College Preparatory School Blue Devils varsity football team, uncharacteristically, finished with winning seasons. Alongside the recent influx of wins has come an increase in the support of these two Jacksonville teams, and the sports community often refers to these fans as “bandwagoners.” In the world of sports, the “bandwagon” effect causes people to take a liking to a particular team because of their recent success. For instance, in the past five years the NBA’s Golden State Warriors have seen unprecedented success for their franchise. According to statista.com, in 2013, the Warriors were the 18th most popular team based on Facebook fans, but following their historically successful seasons, with some of the highest winning percentages in league history, they have become the 4th most popular team in the NBA. The Jacksonville Jaguars have received a similar reaction after capturing a playoff spot for the first time in a decade.

The Jacksonville Jaguars (who, like the Stanton Blue Devils, are known in their city for losing year after year) had an exceptional season, making a promising playoff run before losing 24–20 to the New England Patriots in the NFL’s American Football Conference Championship on Jan. 21, 2018. Locals have noticed a considerable increase in the number of Jaguar jerseys seen on Stanton’s campus and around Jacksonville. This is no surprise as North American sports retail chain Fanatics has seen a 1,200 percent increase in Jaguars merchandise sales since the Jaguars made the playoffs.

photo by Dani Brewer

Since their recent success in the 2017–2018 school year, support for the Stanton football team has increased.

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At Stanton, prior to the 2017–2018 season, the varsity football team had not been able to finish a regular season with a positive record in decades. This resulted in the mockery of the Blue Devils, essentially making the football eam a running joke and a part of Stanton sports which was difficult to get behind.

“Watching the football team as a freshman and sophomore was tough because of all the friends I had on the team,” said junior Brendan Murphy. “It was hard to watch my friends lose repeatedly and hear the team being mocked.”

It was hard to watch my friends lose repeatedly and hear the team being mocked.

—Brendan Murphy, 11th Since having their most successful season in decades, the Blue Devil varsity football team appears to have seen a significant increase in support from fans. Some students feel this growth in the support for the football team is solely based on the team’s recent increase in wins.

“Before this year I heard people laugh at the football team because of how much they lost,” said sophomore wide receiver Sayf Shah. “As we got better at working together this year and started to win games, people started to respect us more and it felt good to be a part of that.”

The influence of the bandwagon effect at Stanton appears to be at an all-time high with the recent success of the football team. Certain students feel this could be detrimental to the sports community at the school.

“I really don’t like bandwagoners because I think they are bad for sports,” said junior Michael Pu. “When people begin to support a team just because they start winning, only one team gets recognized while other good teams don’t get enough recognition.”

According to ESPN, basketball, baseball and football are the most popular youth sports in the U.S. Unfortunately, at Stanton, this leads to less popular, but still talented, teams being ignored or overlooked. Certain members of the Blue Devil tennis team, for instance, feel they are repeatedly disregarded by the student body.

“Tennis at Stanton has probably been the single most accomplished sport in the past five years. We have won our district every year, while some, if not all, of our varsity players qualify for states every single time,” said sophomore varsity tennis player Ronak Venkata. “It’s sad when our wins against the top schools in Florida are being overlooked, especially because tennis is just as hard as, if not harder than, other sports.”

This bandwagon behavior may cause certain sports, or the teams playing those sports, to be overlooked despite their successes. At Stanton, some athletes feel the “bandwagon” effect is not limited to teams, but also sports as a whole, meaning people will claim to enjoy a sport for the purpose of fitting in, even if they are not a big fan of the sport.

There are some cases in which people jump on a team’s “bandwagon” simply to keep up with the social trends among

their peers. Fans are often pressured to take a liking to or become interested in certain things because doing so would help feel more included. This causes there to be a severe lack of loyalty in the sports community and can lead to certain teams at Stanton being neglected.

In an article posted to psychologicalscience.org, Daniel Wann, professor of psychology at Murray State University said, “When we look at motivation for following a sports team, group affiliation is one of the top ones.

Identifying strongly with a salient local team where other fans are in the environment — that’s a benefit to socialpsychological well-being.”

In addition to wanting to find common ground with peers, it is common for people to want to become a part of a winning team. At high schools, this phenomenon goes beyond becoming a fan of a successful team to joining the team as a player. Since their winning season, the Blue Devils have seen this effect firsthand. According to head coach of the varsity football team Coach Mike Healey, there has been an increase from 34 players in last year’s offseason to 50 this year. This is significant because, in light of their struggles in recent years, the Blue Devils have had a difficult time recruiting players to play Stanton football.

While most would agree that it is easiest to be a loyal fan during a team’s success, it can be very telling of a community’s loyalty when a team’s fan base grows exponentially. Sports in Jacksonville have not been noteworthy in a long time and only time will tell if Jacksonville fans will remain zealous when sports in the city, one day, inevitably decline again.

photo by Dani Brewer

The presence of Jaguars jackets and jerseys have become much more common at Stanton.

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photo by Kendall Berry

photo by Abby Murphy

photo by Trisha Willie

photo by Trisha Willie

From the Beginning

Photography by

Dani Brewer, Katie Stevens and Prachi Misra

photo by Katie Stevens

photo by Katie Stevens

photo by Mitchell Mika

photo by Mitchell Mika

Cars & Coffee Jacksonville’s Premier Cruise-In

Second Saturday of the month from 8 am to 11 am The Avenues Mall

10300 Southside Blvd Jacksonville, FL 32256

For more information visit: carshow.automotiveaddicts.com

Class of 2018 Senior Issue

“Just a little while longer, to love a little bit stronger.”

—Chisom Ukoha, “Yellow Motif”

photo by Prachi Misra

photo by Katie Stevens

photo by Katie Stevens

Coming Soon Photography by

Prachi Misra and Katie Stevens

photo by Katie Stevens

photo by Prachi Misra

photo by Prachi Misra

Source: CBSSPORTS.com Source: Issue 2 of the Devil’s Advocate

Source: Devil’s Advocate Twitter poll of 76

The Record (Senior Edition)

Source: Duval County School Board

photos obtained from Google Images and staff photographers

Source: Stanton guidance

Source: Time.com

may 2018

devil’s advocate | 15

Class of 2019

It is time to take your senior pictures!

Prestige Portraits Studio 8933 Western Way, Suite 18 Jacksonville, FL 32256 904-398-1050 www.prestigeportraits.com/jax In order to be featured in the Senior section of next year’s yearbook, you must have your Senior Portrait scheduled by August 1, 2018 and have your picture taken by August 31, 2018.

Anyone who has not taken their pictures by this time will be in the underclassmen section.

Student Life

DIFFERENT PATHS Seniors reflect on their time at Stanton and the different experiences which defined it.

BY CHRISTA ASSI, Staff Writer those people were some of my best friends,” said Nowak.

Nowak’s path has centered around different forms of competition, and whether athletic or entertaining, he has been able to use both types of activities to set himself up for success.

“For me it was competition in the pool, on the soccer field, in the classroom and against myself to always be improving and try to rise to the top,” said Nowak.

Although athletics are a popular path, theater is an option for students who would rather take the stage. Senior James Demps has been involved in many aspects of the arts that Stanton has to offer, from chorus to theater. Demps uses the arts to relieve the stresses of high school.

“Drama has caused me to be more outgoing than I already was. Coming in Jordan Bowen (left) going over edits in the yearbook. to Stanton, I was outgoing, but I wasn’t very open to meeting new people,” said As the school year comes to an end, seniors reflect on the experiences of their high school careers. Stanton Demps. “Theater allows for people to be more expressive College Preparatory School channels diversity through and outspoken and that has shaped me as a person.”

Theater is a way for students to challenge themselves in the accessibility to numerous extracurricular activities.

Each student chooses their own path at Stanton from the beginning of freshman year—from picking electives and The Stanton experience is learning clubs to building friendships, students curate their high school experiences through the decisions they make. The how to express yourself whether that high school experience involves finding one’s identity and be behind the scenes or onstage. deciding how best to share it.

Senior Will Nowak, for example, has been actively involved since freshman year on Stanton’s swim team, soccer team and morning news show “Live on 5.” Such encounters have filled his time at Stanton in a way that is both competitive a way that builds both a fictional character onstage and their and entertaining. These experiences have strengthened his own character offstage. It is a platform for the extrovert within friendships by exposing him to those who share common a student to grow and become a source for passion.

“The Stanton experience is learning how to express interests.

“Swim team really connected me with other like-minded yourself whether that be behind the scenes or onstage. I peers and those relationships developed over the course of think everyone at Stanton should take part in some sort of my Stanton career—as soon as I reached my senior year [artistic] performance,” said Demps.

Like theater, another outlet for student expression is Stanton’s Multicultural Student Association (Multi) which celebrates cultural diversity. Senior Kashmala Zeb has participated in Multi her entire high school career and uses it to grow her cultural appreciation.

“I’ve done Multi since freshman year and it was the first extracurricular that I took part in, so that shaped me to be more danceoriented,” said Zeb. “I pay a lot of attention to costume, so that path connected me to different cultures and so I do think that I’m more aware of other cultures and the issues within them.”

Multi allows Zeb to embrace the array of cultures Stanton has to offer through the art of dance. It also allows her to learn about the origins of other cultures and how they are represented at Stanton.

Will Novak in the TV Production studio. photo by Katie Stevens

—James Demps, 12th

photo by Katie Stevens

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photo by Katie Stevens

James Demps practicing for chorus.

“Multi is definitely very culturally oriented, everything has historic roots and everything is so hands-on and it’s such a huge community, connecting with other people,” said Zeb. “The Stanton experience is defined by what you take part in, who you’re friends with and how much you get involved.”

The arts serve as a platform for creativity whether it be theater, dance or writing. For some, a love for journalism can flourish. Senior Jordyn Bowen is the ongoing Editor-inChief of Stanton’s yearbook, the Phoenix, and has used her journalistic writing as her outlet for creativity and as a voice at Stanton.

“I love yearbook so much and I’ve always wanted to progress on the ‘yearbook ladder,’ I pay attention to more of my writing classes, like English—I try really hard in those and I found my strengths with my classes,” said Bowen. “ I knew I was never a strong math or science student so I honed in on my writing so that way I could be a better journalistic writer and a better writer overall.”

Because of yearbook’s focus on graphic design and writing, Bowen has been able to further develop her interest in the pursuit of professional journalism since she is able to constantly be producing new pieces and learn from old ones.

While these paths differ greatly amongst individuals, it is those differences that define individuality at Stanton.

“It’s a very personal experience—the Stanton experience is truly what you make it,” said Bowen.

No one will ever have the same opportunities, goals or achievements as another, but it is for that reason that each and every path at Stanton is tailored by each student according to their interests. While they may vary from athletics to the arts, these paths share a unifying trait that is identity. Just by analyzing each experience, one can tell how each person has made high school their own journey.

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vol. xxxiv, no. 4

Last Stanton vs Paxon Football Game

Last Theater Production photo by Dani Brewer

photo by Chris Brewer

For the Last Time Photography by

Dani Brewer

Last Winter Fest photo by Dani Brewer

Last Multi

Last Pep Rally photo by Dani Brewer

photo by Dani Brewer

Opinions The Bigger Picture

A Life Outside of Stanton

By SHABBAR SYED, Senior Class President

By TRISHA WILLIE, Contributing Writer

iiiiiMy year as president of Stanton College Preparatory School’s senior class of 2018 was surprisingly manageable. Along with being class president, I was also involved with several other extracurricular activities, family and religious commitments, as well as the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. There was a lot on my plate, but I love to eat, so everything worked out. iiiiiBeing Senior Class President wasn’t something that I was aware of on the daily. To me, it was more of a set of added responsibilities rather than a crucial position, but I never fully comprehended the weight of being a representative of the class and the school. Even when I found out I was elected senior year, there was elation, but never a moment of clarity where I saw myself as anything more than just Shabbar. There were some moments that changed my outlook on my role, but none that were life changing. The daily reminder was when my friends greeted me with, “Hi, Mr. President,” to which I’d jokingly reply, “Hi, peasant.” It really wasn’t that burdensome of a role to me. photo by Prachi Misra

The biggest takeaway from my position was that pleasing everyone isn’t possible, and shouldn’t be actively attempted. iiiiiThe biggest takeaway from my position was that pleasing everyone isn’t possible, and shouldn’t be actively attempted. An individual opinion should not affect that of the majority, regardless of whether that individual was my friend. I picked up on this quickly, due to my sponsors and fellow class officers stressing that I had to consider the bigger picture. Without them, I would have spread myself too thin and would not have been able to fully commit to the responsibilities which were expected of me. I’m glad we finally pulled through and made some awesome T-shirts after three years of lackluster designs.

The best part about the class of 2018 was that, despite not being fully clumped into one group, everyone still got along.

I’ve said this before, but when I reflect back on my high school experience, I feel like I definitely could have gone through it all without extracurricular activities, but I also know that I would have had ten times as many struggles without a life outside of my studies at Stanton College Preparatory School.

If you told my freshman self that I’d be performing at pep rallies for the next three years, that I’d be Multi president in my senior year or that I’d be able to balance it all while still making good grades and keeping my sanity, I probably would have felt more relieved than anything because it meant that I was accomplishing seemingly unattainable goals. But more than that, I would have been surprised. As a freshman, I had a lot of growing to do, which I think I did (obviously not physically though, as my senior superlative of Most Likely to be Mistaken for a Freshman indicates). I firmly believe that I was able to grow thanks to the family I gained at Stanton, the memories I made here and the time that I spent at all of those after-school practices. photo by Prachi Misra

Now that I’m on the cusp of fully realizing my own accomplishments, and as much as I was guided by Stanton alumni, I am incredibly I firmly believe that I was able to excited for and proud of myself. grow thanks to the family I gained Stress and tears aside, it’s difficult for me to imagine at Stanton, the memories I made heading straight home after school instead of going to here and the time that I spent at all learn a new step or leading my own Multi group’s practice. I was able to develop my sense of self without creating new of those after-school practices. problems with academics or sleep. I remember the senior

I grew up within this strange paradox of complaining about a lack of time, yet giving whatever spare time I did have to my extracurriculars. And yet, I was never fully consumed by them—except during the week of this year’s Multicultural Student Association (Multi) shows. After the

Columns published in the Devil’s Advocate represent the views of the writers, not those of the newspaper.

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class when I was a freshman and how much I looked up to them. They balanced everything so well. Would I be able to do that too? Now that I’m on the cusp of fully realizing my own accomplishments, and as much as I was guided

by Stanton alumni, I am incredibly excited for and proud of myself.

Diverging Paths

By LIAM NGO, Layout and Design Editor iiiiiWhen I came to Stanton College Preparatory School four years ago, I expected my path to be very similar to that of my older sister, who graduated in 2014. She was not accepted into the International Baccalaureate (IB) program when she applied in the eighth grade, and neither did I, but she transferred into IB after her sophomore year, which I had also planned to do. Unfortunately, things didn’t quite work out that way.

I struggled immensely my freshman year, being truly challenged by my school work for the first time in my life. I had no study habits and had quickly become overwhelmed by the workload, even though I now realize the triviality of many of the classes I took. photo by Dani Brewer

iiiiiThe best part about the class of 2018 was that, despite not being fully clumped into one group, everyone still got along. Our performance at pep rallies, although lacking the best record, still reflected an awesome sense of unity which was evident at our last pep rally when we split the “Red Sea.” Our last day of junior year, or senior takeover day, stands out especially to me as it was the first time we were all together as seniors. iiiiiI won’t miss much about Stanton. I’m appreciative of the community and environment for landing me where I am today. The late nights spent cramming for exams, the rush to turn in IB coursework last minute, and the last minute panic I used to motivate myself was vital in both my success and meeting my friends, which procrastinate just as much. The insurmountable levels of stress, coupled with my awful scheduling of activities and events, has somehow shaped me into who I am today, which is happy and stress-free. I made it! But now, onto college.

first night show on Thursday, I had a mental breakdown on my way home from school after my car’s battery died. That, along with the pressure that had already been building, was enough to give me puffy eyes the next morning. But

by Saturday night, after the last show of my high school career, the second round of tears never came. A part of me wanted to experience that catharsis, but an even bigger part of me was so content with the work we had put into the shows this year. In fact, the only moments where I came close to crying were when my friends—the people I had come to regard as honorary family members—approached me in tears with open arms, telling me how much they would miss me. The relationships are one of the best parts of Multi. I formed friendships with people in every grade level, people that I never would have had the chance to even speak with otherwise.

I had difficulty wrapping my head around an uncertain future, but I was exhilarated by the prospect of finding my own way. iiiiiFreshman year was the first time the paths my sister and I were on diverged. As many younger siblings know, things are typically easier to do when your older siblings have done them first. As a result, my low freshman year grade-point average (GPA) and enrollment in the honors program scared me because I had no idea where my future would lie. The University of Florida had officially died as my dream school, as it quickly became unattainable. This was the first time in my life I would have to do things that hadn’t

been laid down in front of me. I had difficulty wrapping my head around an uncertain future, but I was exhilarated by the prospect of finding my own way. My sister and I have a fantastic relationship and I foster no resentment toward her, but struggling at Stanton fortunately allowed me to live without seeing myself in her shadow.

Being in the honors program allowed me to have a well-rounded high school experience, one that I might not have found had I been extremely focused on academics. iiiiiI soon began to join clubs and sports, immersing myself in Foster Closet Club, the Multicultural Student Association and the lacrosse team. I don’t think I would’ve become involved with these activities if I had been solely focused on academics and getting into IB. I know that it is possible to be in IB and participate in many extracurricular activities, as is done by many of my peers, but I’m not sure I would have been completely capable of doing so myself. iiiiiBeing in the honors program allowed me to have a wellrounded high school experience, one that I might not have found had I been extremely focused on academics. My Stanton experience is not what typically comes to mind when outsiders think of our prestigious college preparatory school. I do not have any Ivy League acceptances, more than a few cords and no National Honor Society armor to protect me from the judging eyes of the Veterans Memorial Arena. That is fine with me.

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Opinions Gratitude

By JACK LAGOY, SGA President When I first came to Stanton College Preparatory School, I knew no one and had no friends. Coming from Palmer Catholic Academy, none of classmates from middle school went to Stanton, and because of this, I was shy and scared to talk a lot. However, in the following months, I would meet people, make friends and slowly start to work my way out of my shell.

In the next few years, I was able to see myself completely come out of my shy and quiet persona and grow as a person through my participation in various academics and clubs. Classes like chemistry, while bringing me to many new lows, have shown me that there is beauty in hard work, and that “chemists know these things.” Being in positions like Student Government Association President and Junior Class President brought me into contact with Stanton’s amazing and supportive community, and taught me that leaders are not above anyone and should help others grow to new heights. Looking back on my years at Stanton, what makes me happiest is that I actually started talking to and

meeting people; my high school years would not have been the same without the amazing friends I made.

My time at Stanton has been quite a ride. I never thought going to Stanton would introduce me to such a unique and talented student body, and I am blessed to have received the opportunity to work so closely with it.

The great performances put on by our amazing step team, dance team and marching band at pep rallies, for example, make Stanton’s student body’s creativity obvious. The openness people at Stanton have regarding their passions

is prevalent due to the healthy environment created by supportive friends.

My dad’s job has made my family have to move a lot, and everywhere we moved, one lesson always stuck with me: the people in your life are what make it a good time.

Stanton has been no exception to this rule: it is the people at Stanton that make being here so worthwhile. So many of them have a passion and constantly seek to develop this passion through the clubs and academics available to them. Not to flex my own club, but as founder of the Stanton Sock Society, I can speak to this. This year, I found out I was not the only sock lover at this school, and with encouragement from Rayyan Khan and help from Lydia Dobransky, I started the Twitter account that gives a shoutout to a new #Sockicon every Friday. Any success the club had was due to the passion and support of other Stanton students who came to school in socks that illustrated their uniqueness. Experiences like these are what have made Stanton so much fun for me. Now that my time at Stanton is coming to an end, I’ve come to realize I can only take the lessons I’ve learned at Stanton with me, but I will cherish them because they made me who I am today.

A Permanent 17

Looking Ahead

Fear of Missing Out

By CHISOM UKOHA, Digital Media Editor

By ABBY FARAH, Contributing Writer

By SYDNEY LEWIS, Staff Writer

iiiiiMy personal philosophy demands a certain respect for the natural pacing of things, a reluctance to wish for time to pass any quicker than intended. I’ve never wished to be older or at a later stage in my life regardless of the state of contemporary events—for example, when I was in middle school I never longed to be a cool high school kid and never yearned for licenses or cars or college. I felt like if I could hold onto the present for as long as possible, I’d be living life as well as I could. iiiiiHowever, senior year, by nature, is a time of desperation for the finish line. My peers and I, perhaps since as soon as the previous school year had ended, have spent practically every second on Stanton College Preparatory School’s campus waiting for our final 2:55 p.m. The end of high school offers several promises: a reprieve from stress, more free time and a shift towards a brighter, perhaps less sleepless, future. In my final moments as a Blue Devil, I find myself consumed by the above mentality. I know that, individually, time is finite and to knowingly forfeit any bit of it would be foolish. But right now, I long for June. And that’s okay.

iiiiiLike all other members of my class, I have been awaiting graduation ever since I submitted my first college application. Now that time seems to have drastically sped up and the big day is only a few days away, I wish that I could take a small pause to catch my breath. As excited as I am to go to college, I also harbor a bit of sorrow. While I watch my fellow seniors eagerly anticipate May 29, I cannot get my mind off of the not-anymores. iiiiiNot-anymores are things that we experience only in high school and probably take for granted. Some notanymores include performing in Drama Club, being involved with the Multicultural Student Association or serving as a class or student government officer. For me, the worst not-anymore is getting to see my best friends every day. When I first came to Stanton College Preparatory School, it only took me about a month to find the people who would become my backbone; I made the worst mistakes and have had the greatest victories thus far with them. It has been my greatest privilege to have them by my side for the entirety of high school, but this privilege only makes it that much harder to go to college so far away from them. My house is already far from my best friend Kashmala Zeb’s, but compared to the 123.7 miles between the University of Florida and the University of South Florida, this distance is extremely insignificant.

Going our separate ways is inevitable for each of us and necessary for our growth as individuals, but I hope that in becoming the best versions of ourselves, we do not forget those who got us there. iiiiiAnd yet, greater than my sadness surrounding the notanymores is my eagerness for what is soon to be. These are things we as high schoolers have yet to experience and make the idea of going to college so exhilarating for us. Most of us will have more freedom, will make incredible new friends, will spend our minimal amount of money on junk food—and love it—and will work even harder than we did in high school, but this time we work toward a new chapter of the rest of our lives. iiiiiNow that graduation is rapidly approaching, I’m looking at the day with wonder and nostalgia, anticipation and melancholy, dozens of other juxtaposed feelings, creating a great big bittersweet mess. Above all, though, I am ready. Outside of this small bubble of mixed emotions, there is a world for us to conquer, and I am ready for it.

iiiiiAt a time when many high schoolers nationwide are contemplating their futures, I find myself reflecting more and more on the past. Looking back, it is easy to have regrets and feel troubled by the thought of missed opportunities. I find myself mourning the hours lost preparing for presentations and writing essays, and regret giving up the chance to be a regular teen. The “what-ifs” are overwhelming at times. iiiiiBut while missing out has undoubtedly been part of my Stanton College Preparatory School experience, I also shouldn’t neglect what I’ve gained as a student here. Yes, I sacrificed countless hours of sleep and socializing, but I also gained an appreciation for dedication, friendships and SparkNotes. My time at Stanton has challenged and inspired me both academically and personally in ways other schools never could have.

photo by Prachi Misra

photo by Katie Stevens

The end of high school offers several promises: a reprieve from stress, more free time and a shift towards a brighter, perhaps less sleepless, future. iiiiiThere’s this thematic motif to youth about holding onto and savoring the times of adolescence, and rightfully so. High school has provided me with a renewed value for friendship, the magic, albeit cliche, of prom night, four incredible years of being a part of the Multicultural Student Association, my time on a newspaper staff that I adore, “Yellow Motif” and a whole host of other meaningful, memorable moments. With all of that in mind and in heart, I send Stanton and 17 and everything in between the sweetest of farewells, and welcome, with all of its guaranteed joy and struggle and mayhem, the future that awaits me.

may 2018

I never thought going to Stanton would introduce me to such a unique and talented student body, and I am blessed to have received the opportunity to work so closely with it.

photo by Prachi Misra

photo by Prachi Misra

My time at Stanton has challenged and inspired me both academically and personally in ways other schools never could have. iiiiiAlthough I didn’t accomplish everything I wanted to in high school, I believe it is a waste of time to wonder what could have been. By focusing so much on academics, I gave up many chances to attend sports events and parties and make more typical high school memories.

But during my time at Stanton, I also wrote a mini-thesis about local history, discovered my intellectual passions and developed strong relationships with my teachers and peers, all of which have changed me for the better.

Besides, not many people can say that they survived four years at one of the nation’s most challenging high schools, but I can. Every moment at Stanton has shaped who I am today, and I wouldn’t change a thing. iiiiiInstead of focusing on the opportunities I missed, I choose to cherish the ones I was lucky enough to have and the people I shared them with. I also find comfort in knowing that, as monumental as it may seem now, high school isn’t the end—it’s only the beginning. While I find it difficult to imagine a Stanton without me and my peers, I have come to accept that life goes on, and so will I.

devil’s advocate | 23

Life After Stanton iiiiiOn Tuesday, May 29, 2018, the 367 seniors in Stanton College Preparatory School’s graduating class of 2018 will walk across the stage of the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena, receive their diplomas and finally conclude their time at Stanton. iiiiiAnd then what? iiiiiA transitional week or so of parties and fun and last memories with friends turns into a transitional season of heat and beaches and low-wage jobs, or, for some, the summer semester—the calm before the storm. Then August rolls around and we head to college, one by one. It can be hard to see that far ahead after a brutal month of Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) exams; as of now, the collective focus is almost exclusively on graduation. For many of us, these long four years have made a Stanton diploma seem not like a means to an end, but an end in itself. This is understandable—no one just happens to stumble into Stanton as a freshman and waltz out four years later, diploma in hand. To graduate, each and every one of us sacrificed sleep and sanity and sociability for school. For some of us, our parents schemed for years to navigate the magnet school system so we would end up here. It’s tempting to treat graduation as the end. iiiiiHowever, it’s only the beginning. The purpose of attending Stanton was not merely to complete the required coursework and acquire our diplomas, but to prepare ourselves for what comes next—college, yes, but more importantly, future careers and adulthood and families.

Every graduating senior should be deeply proud of their accomplishments thus far, but must also remember that there is life beyond Stanton. iiiiiIn some ways, Stanton prepared us well. The ridiculous workload of junior and senior year taught us how to balance seemingly impossible demands (though the merits of this baptism-by-fire is debatable) and complete a whole project in one night—extremely useful in the real world. Stanton also taught us how to prioritize, to pick which assignments needed to be done well and forego the rest. This, really, is how the adult world works: no one really knows what they’re doing, and acting like you do—every Stanton graduate’s top skill—is a valuable asset everywhere. Most importantly, at Stanton, we learned how to thrive among those who are different from us, in every sense of the word. iiiiiNonetheless, Stanton failed us in other crucial aspects. The exhaustion of the curriculum made us think that we could procrastinate on anything we were assigned—such behavior will get you fired at a real job. Speaking of jobs, too many of us lack entry-level work experience because our school years were filled with homework and extracurriculars and our summers with volunteering. Right now, we’ve been conditioned to see school and grades as the be-all end-all—but in college, learning how to live independently is far more crucial than your classes, and beyond that, what matters most is your drive and competence. Every graduating senior should be deeply proud of their accomplishments thus far, but must also remember that there is life beyond Stanton.

devil’s advocate established 1983 I Stanton College Preparatory School

2017–2018 Editorial Board Walker Miller Mary Allison Kane Trystan Loustau Liam Ngo Chisom Ukoha Dani Brewer

Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Managing Editor Layout and Design Editor Digital Media Editor Senior Photo Editor

The Devil’s Advocate serves as the official newspaper of Stanton College Preparatory School. It is produced monthly by members of the Journalism class. The editors reserve the right to edit any material submitted to the paper for content, grammar, length and accuracy.

The Devil’s Advocate is a public forum for student expression, which encourages free exchanges of opinions concerning controversial and non-controversial community and school related issues. The advertisements and ideas expressed within the newspaper are not necessarily those of the newspaper adviser, newspaper staff, Stanton administration or the Duval County Public School Board.

The Devil’s Advocate accepts advertisements from all businesses in the Stanton community. The ad format can be given to the staff or the adviser, Mr. Larry Knight.

Students, faculty, and parents may contact the staff and adviser at (904) 630-6760 ext. 143 or at knightl1@duvalschools.org.

may 2018

Happiness Outside of College iiiiiHappiness is oftentimes an elusive emotion. In the 2017 Harris Poll Survey of American Happiness, only 33 percent of Americans said they were happy. This doesn’t exactly create an idyllic image of the future for the upcoming generation of American youth.

Still, 79 percent of millennials reported being optimistic about their futures. After all, we, the staff of the Devil’s Advocate, and the rest of American high schoolers, have limitless possibilities awaiting us, in college, in our careers, in our lives. There is much to be excited about. Stanton College Preparatory School seniors have experienced a hyperbolic educational culture, one which has undoubtedly affected their optimism and outlook on the future. That culture is characterized by intense academic pressure, centered around the importance of an excellent higher education. In other words, students, at least those who fully participate in this institution’s culture, slave away for four years, competing against their peers and other high schoolers around the world to get into this nation’s top colleges. The standard definition of success for Stanton students is defined by the rank of the colleges they end up attending. Happiness for these students is built, at least partly, on their social standing within this system, their academic reputation and performance and, ultimately, on the name of their future college. iiiiiOf course, as occurs in all cultures, stereotypes have been established in this system, including the stereotype that all Stanton students, or at least those at the top, are bookmunching zombie nerds who do everything with the sole purpose of putting it on their college application. While few zombies may roam the halls, most Stanton students can admit that they have considered at some point in their high school experience how something, whether it be a grade or extracurricular activity, would be viewed by a college admissions committee. At that point, their happiness was partially defined by their future college prowess. For some, this criterion for happiness has been around for much longer; some Stanton students have been striving toward getting into a top college since middle school or earlier. Others could care less about the national ranking of the college they attend—they have their own standards for happiness, but still may feel inadequate due this dominant cultural norm—and the rest fall somewhere in between these two extremes. iiiiiIn the emotional climate of graduation season, we, the Devil’s Advocate, encourage students to spend this summer further developing their criteria for happiness which are separate from academic success. Clearly, academic success and career success—the former’s long-term component—are important, but they aren’t everything. And saying that is not a justification for academic failure; rather, it is our appeal to Stanton students to discover the joy of making cookies from scratch, to laugh with their siblings while attempting mountain biking for the first time, to do more of what makes them happy besides school. Expand your palate for happiness. Your future self will thank you.

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Stanton’s Facade of Perfection

Art in Jacksonville

By RAHA RIAZATI, Contributing Writer

By GIBSON GRIMM, Contributing Writer

iiiiiDuring the summer before my freshman year, countless upperclassmen told me that being a Stanton College Preparatory School student would be one of the most difficult—yet ultimately rewarding— experiences of my life. I took this to mean the workload would simply be overwhelming, failing to recognize the school environment’s ability to plant anxiety and insecurity in its student body. iiiiiI was excited about a fresh start when I first stepped foot in Stanton, yet within a couple of months, I felt incredibly lost as my self-esteem dropped exponentially. Many of my peers had already accomplished feats beyond belief: the kid sitting next to me in my math class told me he was taking six Advanced Placement (AP) classes online, the girl two seats ahead said she was the four-time winner of a state piano competition and the guy one row over was apparently the chairman of a nationally-renowned volunteer organization. They somehow also maintained straight A’s throughout the entirety of the first semester; I had managed to scrape by with good-enough grades, but only with intense effort and frustration. The few extracurriculars I was involved in seemed microscopic next to the achievements of those around me. I began to feel I would never be able to compete with my peers. iiiiiThen, I came to a realization toward the middle of third quarter that has since altered my perspective—some of what others say, especially in a high-stakes environment, is either false, exaggerated or overly discussed to hide another area of weakness. At Stanton, there exists the phenomenon I like to call the “facade of perfection.” Our families and friends (and, sometimes, teachers) have photo by Katie Stevens

the unrealistic expectation that Stanton students must be the best of the best because we attend an extremely competitive and prestigious school. Such inflated standards breed intense academic pressure, and, struggling with feelings of inferiority due to cutthroat competition, we exaggerate the quality of our lives and achievements. We feel the need to concoct stories about our grand plans for the future and the countless fantastic extracurriculars on our résumé that are guaranteed to garner admission to an Ivy League simply to quiet our own insecurities and make our peers feel incompetent in comparison. Smiles and boasts are just a facade to hide debilitating envy, but they lead to great harm when they sow the same feelings in others, especially if those others haven’t caught on to this tradition of fabrication. Therefore, when feeling down, it is important to remember the key word, “facade.”

Stanton students must be more honest and supportive of one another so the towering facade of perfection can finally be reduced to a pile of rubble.

iiiiiJacksonville is many things, but an arts mecca is not one of them. This is not to say that an arts scene does not exist in the city, but rather that it has not become a significant part of its identity in the way that the naval base or the St. Johns River have.

As a result, when people think of Jacksonville, the local music and art typically do not come to mind in the way that they do for cities such as Atlanta. iiiiiIt seems a little unusual that a city with such a vibrant cultural past is so lackluster in that arena today, though perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising given the widespread lack of awareness of our city’s cultural history. After all, Jacksonville is the city where Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers Band formed, and where teenage Ray Charles made a living performing at the Ritz Theatre, but fascinating cultural events like these have become lost in history and forgotten by many. photo by Dani Brewer

iiiiiWe all have negative thoughts about ourselves at times, and keeping this in mind can both prevent us from being too self-critical and urge us to empathize with our peers and perceive their struggles. Stanton students must be more honest and supportive of one another so the towering facade of perfection can finally be reduced to a pile of rubble.

Review: “Ready Player One”

By JACOB ELDER, Contributing Writer iiiiiSteven Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” is, surprisingly, not the worst film of all time. iiiiiThis might not seem like high praise, but it’s the best review one can hope for with this lukewarm adaptation. “Ready Player One,” the book, is about a virtual reality treasure hunt set in the future. The twist is that the world is built around pop culture, giving the author, Ernest Cline, an excuse to cram references onto every page.

Cline utilizes entire chapters of his novel to simply recite the plots of other movies almost uniformly described as “classics”; he apparently doesn’t know many other adjectives. Promoting better films in your own bad one is never a good idea because doing so will make people want to go watch other movies instead, which is not the best start for a film adaptation. Spielberg’s changes to “Ready Player One’s” plot, however, are mostly for the better, but the main problem is that the film, like its source material, is still primarily constructed around references to interesting ideas without offering any of its own. iiiiiAlthough I was unimpressed with its lack of originality, I didn’t think the movie itself was awful. It moves at a swift pace and the action scenes are well-staged with some great visuals. For example, a sequence involving Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining” in which computer-generated (CGI) environments are combined with original scenes and rebuilt sets is a marvel of visual effects. Still, the film can’t escape the book’s issues. The dialogue sounds as photo by Katie Stevens

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if it were written by an alien—strangely, the script was co-written by Cline himself. Furthermore, the author’s stand-in protagonist is, tragically, a charisma black hole.

Despite Spielberg’s efforts to deviate from the novel, “Ready Player One’s” focus remains mostly on pointless references that are only occasionally well-implemented. iiiiiUnoriginality is an issue with modern Hollywood in general. While blockbusters of the past showcased action stars or historical monuments being blown up, blockbusters of the present seem to be occupied with featuring things people already know. Of the 20 highest-grossing films of the 2010s, only one—”Frozen”—isn’t a sequel or a remake. Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” is Hollywood in miniature: bright, flashy and eager to show you what once pleased you in the past in the hopes that you might enjoy it again. iiiiiThis doesn’t make blockbusters bad movies, but emphasizes how they often create a sense of déjà vu.

Hollywood executives worry about television networks and streaming services creating original stories that rival blockbusters, and they shouldn’t be surprised if someday people get sick of leaving their homes to watch a movie in a theater when they can watch something better on TV. While “Ready Player One” is mostly—and almost obnoxiously—dependent on other films, Spielberg’s impressive dedication to his craft shines through in some moments. After all, a bad Spielberg movie is still worth seeing at least once, even if on TV in the comfort of your own home. “Ready Player One” may not be a masterpiece, but it may one day fulfill its destiny as mildly entertaining Netflix fluff, after which you can fortunately skip to the good parts. photo obtained from Google Images

infographic by Likhita Manchikanti

iiiiiThe most noteworthy example of Jacksonville’s rich cultural history is found in the city’s film history, in which, due to New York City being too cold in the winter, Jacksonville was the “Winter Film Capital of the World.”

Jacksonville’s natural beauty also provided optimal filming locations, and the city was easily accessible transportation-wise (the construction of Flagler’s Florida East Coast Railway aided in this), thus making it an appealing location for such a bustling industry. iiiiiBy 1908, the Kalem Company had opened a studio in Duval County, soon to be followed by Edison, Metro Pictures (a precursor to MGM) and many others as the city began to transform. Interestingly enough, in 1917, the world’s first technicolor film, The Gulf Between, was shot in Jacksonville. However, the local motion picture boom was short-lived, and the industry shifted West to Hollywood. The only film studio that still stands from this era is Norman Studios, which primarily produced AfricanAmerican oriented films in the 1920s before being forced to close its doors like its fellow production companies; only one Norman Studios film, The Flying Ace (1926), survives today. iiiiiAlthough Jacksonville has an impressive artistic history, such events are unfortunately not embedded in city natives’ current identity as members of a community.

In order for this to happen, the city of Jacksonville needs to embrace its past and encourage the local expansion of the arts. Fortunately, the state of the arts in Jacksonville is already changing for the better. The emergence of new theatre companies, downtown murals, music venues and arts festivals is promising, and if this kind of growth continues, Jacksonville may once again become the culturally rich city it used to be.

Columns published in the Devil’s Advocate represent the views of the writers, not those of the newspaper.

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