December 2014 | The Evergreen, Greenhill School

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hen school started in August, the Upper School computer lab was unrecognizable. Once a dark room filled with rows of computers, it now houses pieces of plastic, chunks of metal, tinkering teenagers and the robots they’re creating. Most of the equipment sits on tables scattered around the room. Student engineers loom over them. They talk about their robot, how to make it better, or an upcoming competition. Since time is fleeting, they move quickly. They run with sharp objects, mildly shock their fingertips on cut electrical wires, and sometimes accidentally break precious objects they designed and printed on the 3-D printer. A sign on the wall reads: “Shoes OFF. Goggles ON. Get to Work.”

Two robotics teams call this room home. There are 10 students per team. The upperclassman robotics team, the Motorheads, has eight members, six girls and two boys.

The underclassman team, Viridian, has two girls and six boys.

Although they are not too competitive with each other, building robots side-by-side does lead to rivalry.

“I’m biased, but I think my robots better,” said freshman Andrew Glick, Viridian lead designer.

At competitions, teams of two compete in a game similar to Whirlyball. Robots race against the clock to toss wiffle balls into tubes of varying heights. Meanwhile, the student engineers hope all the programming is right and none of the pieces fall off. They figure it out as they go and take everything in stride.

The team is made up of builders, programmers, a lawyer, and a marketing representative.

Builders construct the robot. Concerning the electrical system, they must know how to distinguish between wire looms and grommets, how to place a ferrule on the end of a wire, and how to crimp the correct wires to operate the robot. When asked how they keep all this information straight, they’ll laugh and tell you this is just the basics.

When some hear the word “robot,” they think of a futuristic, human-like figure that can clean your room or do your homework. These robots do not resemble humans.

More often they are 18”x18”x18” boxes made up of metal rods and four wheels. Inside are two green and black scissor-lifts that move the machine up and down. The robots are built for functionality, not style.

“It’s not meant to look fancy,” said junior Kevin Gonzalez. “Functionality is always top priority.”

The programmers design the program that allows the robot to operate. They write the program in Labview, the computer software required by First Tech Challenge (FTC), the company that hosts the competition.

The student lawyer, junior Raven Breitfeller, is responsible for knowing competition regulations.

“She’s in charge of knowing the rules in and out and telling us what we can and can’t do and possibly coming up with ways to exploit them,” Kevin said.

Two marketing representatives do everything they

4 11 350 tasks

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can to raise money for the team. Juniors Madhuri Deo and Ruchita Iyer emailed local restaurants such as Smoothie King and Fuzzy’s Taco Shop to raise money that would go towards building the robot. In December, they plan to make a pitch to Texas Instruments (TI), for $2,000 towards competition, travel fees and robot parts.

Madhuri and Ruchita must know the game rules and how the robot is built well enough to make a convincing pitch to potential sponsors.

According to junior Tanvi Shah, captain of the Motorheads, one of the biggest challenges the team has faced so far is lack of time and experience.

“I don’t know much about mechanics and pulleys and wheels and 3-D printing, and that is really hard. Especially when I’m in a time crunch,” Tanvi said.

Kevin said he also feels that a lack of time and experience works against them.

“What we really need is a lot of time. With [school], we just don’t have enough time. Four hours a weekend is a lot, but that’s all we can spare,” Kevin said.

The students meet for hours on Saturdays and work on their own time during school. Students passing by see the room packed throughout the day.

Kevin said he feels this time is necessary for the team’s cohesion as they build their robot.

“We regroup because there’s a lot going on at the same time and sometimes information doesn’t get across. We make sure everyone knows what’s happening, what the game plan is,” he said.

Robotics teams that have competed for longer often have more sponsors or help when building their robot, an advantage the Motorheads team is lacking.

“There are groups that have been [around for] a much longer time so they potentially have more sponsors already,” Kevin said. “[Sometimes] they have professionals helping them,” Tanvi said.

Tanvi became interested in robotics when Ms. Suarez, her advisor, brought up starting a team. Tanvi asked her friends to join. Kevin participated in a robotics team in Middle School and has good memories of his experiences.

The robotics teams can compete in three levels of competition: regional, state and national. They can enter any regional competition but must qualify for state and national. They can win in several categories: performance in the game itself; best presentation in front of judges; best engineering journals; best team spirit. The journal is where they record their engineering process building the robot.

“This is the first time and first year we are competing as a team. We don’t know what we’re doing most of the time. [We] really just feel it out, work our way through it,” Kevin said.

The Motorheads team is preparing for a regional competition on Jan. 17 at University of Texas at Dallas. story by Madison Goodrich graphic by Anurag Kurapati data collected from Forbes and The Boston Globe

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first robot is built

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Where did all the Spirit Go? p. 2

News

Serving Greenhill since 1966

Ferguson case prompts student protests. p. 4

Arts

Food & Film: A quest for Christmas. p. 7

Feat.

Real talk about hair. p. 13

4141 Spring Valley Road, Addison, TX 75001

Sports

Dive into success. p. 18

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Rants & Raves

A RANT to the age-old trend of huddling in locker room corners to talk. Your friends are great and you love them, we get it. But can’t you love each other somewhere that doesn’t make it so difficult for us to discretely snack on our lunch during an off-mod?

A RAVE to the F-Day TeenAge Communication Theater (TACT) Troupe performance. The assembly reminded us that learning about ourselves and others is a never ending journey, a journey riddled with awkward questions, uncomfortable confrontations, and useless pick-up lines.

A RANT to sick students bringing their germs to school. Until Michelle Obama invents a method of sneezing that prevents even a microliter of saliva from exiting your mouth, it is your civic duty to stay in bed, scroll through your empty Instagram feed, and re-read your letter of deferral.

After all, everything happens for a reason.

A RAVE to the fireplace in the library. Oh, Great Fire, in these troubling times of brisk winds, chilly door handles, and onslaughts of assignments from cold-hearted teachers, we comtemplate how much we truly rely on your warmth, especially as we sit in the tundra that is the math pod.

A RANT to the gradually climbing temperature in the science building. Like Einstein and special relativity, or Marie Curie and polonium, we Upper School students have made our own discovery: no matter what you are wearing, no matter where you come from, and no matter what you stand for, you will be hot in the science building.

A RANT to mass emails about clubs. Eons ago, the four grades lived in nearconstant turmoil. Club emails flooded our inboxes daily, then the student council of 20122013 saved us, implementing novel policies that cut the number of emails down tenfold. Send us another hero in shining armor, who can fight the rising tide of emails and save us from a flood of mediocrity, before it’s too late.

A RAVE to recent discussions that have brought clubs together. This approach has made discussions more interesting, more fruitful, and much more impactful. It has not, however, done away with bad club snacks. Club leaders, let us remind you that, contrary to popular belief, we meet during bagel break, not half-tray-of-stale-grocery-storeoatmeal-raisin-cookies break.

Please adjust accordingly.

Revive Hornet Passion and Pride

In two days we’re all leaving on Winter Break, but it’s not a break for athletes. They will be on campus practicing.

One month ago at the boys volleyball Southwest Preparatory Conference Semifinals (SPC) match-up between Greenhill and St. Marks School of Texas in mid-November, the majority of the crowd was decked out in navy and gold.

St. Marks fans dominated the gym–Greenhill’s gym.

At every C-day meeting, team captains step up to the podium and encourage us to attend their games. Instead of giving them our undivided attention, many underclassmen play on their phones while seniors sleep in the lecture hall.

Chad Wabrek, Head of Athletics and Physical Education, finishes each e-mail to the student body with the phrase, “With Hornet Passion and Pride.” But recently, Upper School students have been showing less spirit and pride in our teams.

Spirit is getting up early in the morning to make a sign

A RAVE to the slew of outside speakers the Greenhill Business Society has brought in this year. Engaging the student body in intelligent conversation for longer than it takes to eat a bag of Hot Cheetos is hard, but somehow they’ve managed to do it time and again. Pretty soon, we’ll be getting emails inviting us to attend a pizza lunch with the ghost of Steve Jobs.

for a player. Spirit is staying late on a Tuesday night to watch a basketball game. Spirit is sitting in the stands of Brinkman Field in 40-degree weather to watch your friends play their hearts out on the field. Spirit is waiting in the natatorium for 20 minutes just to see your friend put in relentless effort for one minute in the pool. Spirit is showing up.

The once celebrated spirit and enthusiasm of Greenhill students at sporting events has slowly evaporated. It’s important that we fix this problem.

Seniors, that means showing up to all the games you can. This is the first and last time you have the ability to lead an entire student body. At recent basketball games, juniors have been leading cheers in your absence. You’re the leaders of this school. If you show up to a 7:30 p.m. basketball game on a school night amidst the chaos that college applications present, everyone will follow.

Juniors, this is an opportunity for you to start leading.

Evergreen staff

A RAVE to the girls soccer team’s recent victory against reigning SPC champions, ESD. For the first time in three years, our Hornets showed the Eagles their stingers. The intensity of the gut wrenching we felt during the close game was matched only by the harsh winds. After all, hornets aren’t built for the cold.

Content courtesy of Harris Chowdhary and Zoe Allen

Staff Editorial So far, you’re doing a good job. You might not be seniors just yet, but in a matter of months, you will be the spirit leaders of Greenhill and the responsibility will fall on your shoulders.

Everyone, go to some junior varsity games. These games may not lead to SPC championships, but JV players still practice two hours a day, five days a week. The stands should not be empty. It is your responsibility to cheer on your classmates and friends.

In a staff editorial, The Evergreen Staff of 2013 criticized the student body for being too obnoxious. You may have taken this advice too well. We, The Evergreen Staff of 2015, are telling you not to be more obnoxious, but to be the loud, spirited Greenhill students we once were that prompted that staff editorial. Our athletes deserve more than a crowd of supportive parents.

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editor-in-chief

views editor

Sera Tuz

Megan Wiora

executive editor

news editors

Sofia Shirley

managing editor Sanah Hasan

Madison Goodrich Christina Zhu

features editors Varun Gupta Amna Naseem

arts editor

Catherine Leffert

sports editors

Lane Hirsch Ben Schachter

Erratas, Nov. 2014 issue

asst. arts editor Arhum Khan

special sections editor

asst. views editor

asst. news editor

online editors

Areeba Amer

Andrew Friedman Suman Chebrolu

asst. features editor Zach Rudner

Christian Holmes Ben Krakow

business manager Ryan Diebner

staff writers

Simra Abedi Zoe Allen Ellen Margaret Andrews Sophie Bernstein Stephen Crotty Maya Ghosh Abbas Hasan Mia Krumerman Radhe Melwani Kathie Rojas Joshua Rudner

Lili Stern Zayna Syed Joseph Weinberg

art director

Ariana Zhang

staff artists

addt’l contributor Harris Chowdhary

advisor

Eve Hill-Agnus

Have questions, comments or concerns? Let us know via email at evergreen@greenhill.org.

Hanna Arata Ruchita Iyer Anurag Kurapati Anusha Kurapati Adam Weider Amy Yang

p. 12 Greg Abbott’s stances were incorrectly printed. They should have been as follows: Gay Marriage: No Death Penalty: Yes Gun Control: No Abortion: No Gov. Health Care: No p. 8 Josh Lefler is in the right photo and Nathan Contreras in the left.

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wednesday, december 17, 2014

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Dear Teachers, How do you feel when students ask about their grades?

I don’t mind giving students their grades. However, I almost never reply to the question “What’s my grade in English?” with a one-word answer (i.e. the grade itself). That question is the last part of a much longer conversation. At the end of the trimester (usually about a week or so before report cards “go live”), I’ll invite students to visit with me about their grade. Most end up doing so. I invariably ask them to bring an idea about how they’re doing in my class. Sometimes that means students show up with a number; sometimes they just want to chat about how they think things are going. Interestingly, students very often provide me an estimate that’s significantly lower than the actual grade. That suggests (to a certain extent) some real anxiety about the grades, which always concerns me, though perhaps not quite as much as the (very rare) student who confidently believes they are doing much better than the dire reality! Anyway: if having a conversation about grades reduces anxiety, it’s ultimately a good thing, as it helps clears the way for students to worry more about the material and discussion than about their various grades.

Students don’t ask when they receive fair feedback in their assessments. Those who ask may be (1) obsessed with making an A+ or (2) concerned because they know they have not been performing as they should.

It saddens me when a student asks this question, because the subtext or semantic intention of that question may be “What else can I do to get an A+?” “My parents want me to have an A+.” “I am applying for this prestigious college and I must have an A+.” “I can’t have a C or a D. Help me now, please.”

Making mistakes is part of the learning process. What I would rather hear are questions such as Am I learning what I am supposed to learn?

How can I apply this outside school? What values and life lessons can I get from this topic? What am I doing to remember what I am learning?

What grade should I give myself for being responsible, respectful, honest, dedicated, perseverant and determined in each class? What mistakes am I making? Why am I making them and what can I do improve?

A grade is a tangible representation of academic or cognitive performance, which leaves out other relevant areas of a learner. Students truly committed to learning for the sake of learning grow cognitively, emotionally and spiritually; and when this happens, the question, “what’s my grade?” has no place in their conversations.

-Blake Harkey, MS English teacher

I don’t think that it should be necessary to ask the question. Grades are important to students for good reason, and they should not come as a surprise. Grades also are supposed to represent a level of skill and understanding and should be used as a tool in the learning process: you learn the material better, and your grade goes up. Thus, I prefer that my students be able to figure out their own grades at any point in time without having to ask. ActiveGrade is one such system for accomplishing this goal, and I think it does the job well.

-Nicholas Park, US science teacher

Christmas Joy Comic by Adam Konig

-Jacobo Luna, US Spanish teacher

Graphic by Amy Yang

When students want to discuss their grades, either on a particular assignment or in the class as a whole, I tend to refer to one of my mottos: focus on the learning, not the grades. I wholeheartedly believe that when students fully engage in the material and invest in their own growth and progress, they naturally produce stronger, more meaningful work. I urge them to focus on becoming the best readers, writers, and thinkers that they can be, and to take as much from the experience as possible. Better grades should thus be a byproduct of this process rather than the goal. Grades are obviously important, particularly with regard to college, and I do not take them lightly. But Greenhill’s mission transcends numbers and letters – we are a “life prep” school striving to foster a genuine love of learning and a deep sense of civic responsibility in our students. We are here to learn and educate, academically and otherwise, and those principles should always be our driving force and guiding light.

-Andy Mercurio, US English teacher

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#Activist

Madison Goodrich Christina Zhu News Editors

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t 12 noon on Dec. 1, a group ofGreenhill students and faculty members put their hands above their heads and left class to meet in the quad. Some held signs that read “Hands up, don’t shoot” and “Greenhill students in support of Ferguson.” They walked around the Upper School and library before returning to class. The walk was timed to occur at the same hour that a black teenager, Michael Brown, was fatally shot by officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9 in Ferguson, MO. As times change and technology evolves, student protesters are faced with options that didn’t exist over a decade ago.

Walk the streets or draft a 140-character tweet? Students have new options when deciding how they want their voices to be heard.

Marie Bigham, Director of College Counseling, noted the differences she’s seen over time.

“The very first protest I did, I was 15 years old, the late [or] mid-’80s and it was an ACT-UP protest, an AIDS advocacy group.

The amount of effort [put in] to get people to one spot and to act in cohesion was so difficult. It took weeks and weeks of planning. It astonishes me that social media gets people moving so fast.”

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n late November, senior Rachel Davis stood in front of the Dallas Police Station. A man in a black hoodie, jeans and black gloves walked to the microphone and instructed the 300 people standing before him to hold hands for a moment of silence.

Rachel grabbed the hands of her dad and a stranger standing next her.

It was pitch black except for the lit police station and the statement “Black Lives Matter,” which glistened in purple LED lights over the crowd. The moment of silence ended and she was off, marching and chanting with the protest crowd through downtown Dallas.

“That was a special moment,” she said.

“Everyone standing there for the same cause, connected, so many people caring about the same thing.”

Rachel found out about the protest through social media the previous day, after the grand jury’s decision in the Michael Brown case was released.

“I have a lot of feelings for the trial and many of them are negative. It just doesn’t feel like a coincidence that the jury was made up of nine white jurors, three black jurors, and nine [votes from jurors is the] minimum required to pass. I’ve done research and read all of those things and all these little details are coming up that are making it harder and harder to believe that what the grand jury did was fair.”

Rachel also protested through her blog and Facebook.

“Social media was how I found out about the protest and I was able to share that with my friends, who were able to spread it further. I think social media has played a huge part in why these protests have been so successful and why we have finally been able to come to public attention with this discrimination and racism going on in the justice system.”

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lumna Allie Woodson ’13, a student at Northwestern University, made a sign that listed the names of black men that have been killed by the police over the years. She dressed in black and walked with the sign around her school campus the day after the decision.

Allie decided to protest because of her disappointment with the jury’s decision in the Ferguson case and because she feels there is a lack of care for the lives of black Americans in the United States.

“My reaction was a little bit of everything. I was sad and I cried. I was angry, I was hurt, I was so upset. I still am. I’m tired of seeing black bodies murdered and nothing being done about it. I know my life matters, I know black lives matter, but I’m tired of America acting as if we’re nothing.”

See p. 6 for more on The Evergreen’s experiment with six word memoirs.

The New Face of Protest

When Allie says “we,” she is referring to black Americans such as herself.

This was the first time Allie walked in a protest. She tried not to notice others’ reactions on campus, but focused on the message she was trying to spread.

“Mainly I looked straight ahead. I didn’t try to gauge reactions because it wasn’t about me. I was the vehicle for the sign. I wasn’t really interested in what people thought of me personally. I did get some nods and one guy went out of his way to nod and smile and say, ‘Absolutely.’”

Allie also used Twitter to spread her views on the jury’s decision. She noticed a difference between the two forms of protest.

“Mostly with social media I’m only dealing with people I actually know, whereas in a public space, I can encounter anyone.

Thankfully I haven’t had too many crazy experiences, but I know social media can show you who you really want to interact with. I had people ‘unfollow’ me for my Ferguson tweets and I’m glad; I don’t want to interact with someone who doesn’t value this situation [like I] do. It’s something I believe in.”

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unior Nicolas Suarez was initially overwhelmed by the activity he saw on his Twitter feed after the grand jury’s decision in the Michael Brown case. He was particularly careful about how he got involved and only retweeted certain tweets. He felt many people reacted emotionally instead of logically to the decision.

“I didn’t want to get too involved, because I know a lot of people might not completely agree with my opinion and I didn’t want to offend anyone on Twitter. Especially some of my closest friends who had different beliefs than me. They’re coming from a different place than me. I just wanted to kinda show where I was coming from without really offending them. I decided to just retweet a couple things and I was very decisive on [what] I wanted to retweet.”

Nicolas was upset with the way some looters and protesters handled the situation,

giving protest a violent face. “[What] I really disapprove of is the way that protestors are handling it. I feel bad because there are protestors that want to say something, but they’re getting mixed in with these looters, and they’re destroying businesses and I know that’s not what the people want. So if I could, I would encourage them to stray away from those people, like separate themselves, so we can distinguish who really wants to make a change.”

Ms. Bigham said she feels that social media contributes to the volatilty of emotions during protests.

“I think social media doesn’t give us an opportunity to be thoughtful. I’m as guilty of it as anyone else. I think we sometimes grab onto things we hear, put it on social media, [it] goes viral, and then you find out an hour later that wasn’t fact.”

Allie said she hopes people know the difference between protesters and looters.

“It’s dangerous because it takes away from the problem at hand. It distracts from the actual issue.”

Nicolas disagreed with Michael Brown’s step-father’s reaction to the jury’s decision, but understands that it could have stemmed from a place of hurt.

“You heard what Michael Brown’s stepfather said, ‘Burn this b-word to the ground, when he was speaking of Ferguson. I think he was out of line saying that. I understand that he’s upset, but things like that are things that as a society we have to hold back from saying because it can hurt more people than have already been hurt.”

Ms. Bigham continues to marvel at how much times have changed.

“Activism has changed so much.

Whether it’s organizing people or watching these things happen in real-time. I think that’s what’s getting people more energized and involved. You can see these things happen in real-time and I think it gets people angry. I’ve been thinking how all those different movements that have happened in history would have been different if they had social media.”

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Students analyze gas emission stats from teacher cars Sophie Bernstein Staff Writer

Sixth grade students held car keys, fanned car exhaust piepes, and hopped from car to car with pollution monitors as part of their experiment to test black carbon and ozone gas levels in the air due to car emissions.

Teacher Megan VanWart’s sixth grade science class borrowed cars belonging to various teachers on campus to conduct their experiment.

“We actually did it ourselves, and found our own results instead of looking at someone else’s. We got to interact with each other. We got to really have a lot of fun, and we also learned a lot,” said Antonio Johri, sixth grader.

Ms. VanWart noticed the excitement of the students.

“Of course they all wanted to hold the keys, and to know whose car [is whose], and most of them took their jobs very seriously,” Ms. Van Wart said.

Once they collected data from the 14 cars, the students analyzed the way gas type and car age affected the pollution produced.

They could not control all of the factors affecting the experiment, but some of their findings included that when running on premium gas, the cars seemed to emit more black carbon.

“At one point there were three cars that were running all in the same area, and we got a very large spike of black carbon. It ended up being 23,700 nanograms per meter cubed, and that was only with three cars running, so you can imagine a drive-thru line or a carpool when you have a lot more cars running,” Ms. VanWart said.

When emailing teachers about volunteering their cars for the project, Ms. VanWart made sure the teachers lending their cars were well aware that sixth graders would not be in the front seat.

“When [teachers] reach out and ask for assistance, I think we recognize that what’s

Photo by Madison Goodrich

OH NO, OZONE: Sixth graders Lindsay Jade Feinstein and Ben Blumenfeld use a pollution monitor to test black carbon and ozone gas emissions from a car engine. They are part of Ms. VanWart’s sixth grade science class that tested emissions from various teachers’ cars.

happening in that class is of true value, and we want to help in whatever way we can because we know that [those experiences make] Greenhill what it is,” Ms. VanWart said.

Ms. VanWart discovered Global Ozone Project (GO3P) at a booth a few years ago in a National Science Teachers Association Conference, which she went to as a part of the New Science Teachers Academy to view lectures, seminars and workshops.

As a whole, the project educates sixth through twelfth grade students on groundlevel ozone, and the harmful effects of air pollution.

Pollution, including ozone and black carbon, which the sixth graders are measuring, can irritate the lungs, especially for people with asthma or other respiratory problems.

These sixth graders also learned how to treat the environment.

“I now take shorter showers because of the combustion used to heat the water,” one said.

The sixth graders not only measured teachers’ car pollution emission, but they also went on walks around school collecting information on air pollution across campus.

As expected, they found different levels of black carbon and ozone in the atmosphere.

Afterwards, they analyzed their data using sensors sent to the school from GO3P. On a Google Earth map, they then observed red and yellow spikes representing ozone and black carbon levels.

One sixth grade student reflected on their impact on the Earth.

“I just tried to do all I could: I didn’t use aerosol, didn’t litter, or do anything that could hurt the environment,” said sixth grader Alison Thieberg.

“It makes me, when I am able to get my own car, want to get an electric car to help

out the atmosphere and environment,” said another student.

Another experiment the sixth graders conducted was placing index cards with petroleum jelly around campus, including their classroom.

They did this to study the effects of air pollution and car exhaust on petroleum jelly.

“It was really fun. We were hanging [up] one of the note cards, and my friend got stuck in a tree,” Alison said.

This particular hands-on learning experience shows students the real effects of pollution in daily life.

“When I first found out about [the effect of pollution on the environment], I didn’t really like to hear about it because it scared me. But I think it’s important for people to know what’s going on. We’re actually seeing, here at Greenhill, [that] this is what we’re breathing in and how it relates to our life.”

Sixth grade students create solar panel phone chargers Lili Stern Staff Writer

Greenhill students often learn about problem solvers, whether they are historical rulers who faced and overcame adversity, scientists who made incredible discoveries, or mathematicians who have come up with theorems and formulas that are the basis for the math students study today.

In Middle School, students themselves are the problem solvers. Under Don Myers, STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) Facilitator, sixth grade students are making things they never thought possible at such a young age: solar-powered phone chargers.

Not only are they making them, but they are also having fun doing it. “[The project] was like an addicting game that you don’t want to stop,” said Everett Graves, a sixth grader in Mr. Myers’s Exploratory Design class.

Students in Exploratory Design, required for all sixth grade students, began the unit by talking about solar electricity and how it works. They started brainstorming things that they use daily and would want to charge. Cell phones were the first things that came to mind.

The project was split into two separate and unrelated parts: making a box in a 3-D modeling program called SketchUp that the phone would sit in, and making all of the circuits work.

Students started by measuring the size of their devices and used these measurements to make a box to scale in SketchUp. The boxes were printed using a 3-D printer.

They then made the circuitry. Mr. Myers soldered wire (fused while still allowing conductivity) that connected the solar panel to AA batteries. The panel charged the batteries and wire connected them to a USB circuit that bumped the charge from

Photo by Madison Goodrich

FUN WITH THE SUN: Sixth graders Noah Grimsley and Sophie Gomez charge a phone with the solar powered phone charger that they built with two other sixth graders.

two volts up to five. They needed the five volts to charge a phone. They are able to use a regular charging cord for any phone, plugging it into the USB circuit to charge the phone.

Since the solar panel is charging the batteries that charge the phone, the phone can be charged even when the solar panel is not in direct sunlight.

This project took over half of the first trimester. Students had to be patient, as there was a lot of trial and error, according to both Mr. Myers and Everett.

“When kids design something, they expect their design to print out and be just as they thought it would,” Mr. Myers said.

But the project proved this is not the case. It usually took at least two prints to get the box the students designed on SketchUp to print the way they wanted it to.

“[The project has involved] lots of trials and failures,” Everett said.

At each stage, the student engineers had to identify what was causing their chargers to turn out differently than they imagined, and figure out a way to fix it.

Problem solving was the main lesson that Mr. Myers said he wanted to pass on to the students. According to him, learning to build the charger was not as important, nor was the aspect of saving energy, as the chargers do not actually save a substantial amount of energy.

“It’s not as much about being technologically savvy as becoming better problem solvers, and saying, ‘What do I need to do now that it didn’t work out the way I wanted it to?’” Mr. Myers said. “It’s about teaching the kids what can be done and what the future holds in terms of solar

power.”

For the students, this project was an opportunity to create things on their own that they can actually use.

“I think it’s really cool that something you’re doing could actually matter,” Everett said.

The project also challenges students to think about what they could do on their own with what they learned if they transfer the same concepts to a larger scale.

“One little panel can charge a cell phone. Well, what if we made 100 of these panels? What could it do? Could it power a room in your house? Could it power a few items in your house?” Mr. Myers said.

Mr. Myers said he sees this as an introduction to what could end up being a future career path for many of his students.

“I think that one of the future industries that a lot of the kids are going to go into is engineering in terms of alternative sources of energy. I mean wind farms, solar farms, nuclear power plants,” Mr. Myers said.

Mr. Myers is not only creating a curriculum, but also planting a seed and developing a new generation of engineers.

While most groups took their chargers home, one group donated their charger to the Class of 2015. It is currently in the senior pod.

“The thought that if that’s still there when we get into high school we get to use it [is amazing],” said sixth grader Noah Grimsley.

Many of the students who participated in this project have an appreciation for the chance Mr. Myers gave them to try something seemingly complex at such a young age.

“Solar panels to create energy is just cool in sixth grade. I never thought I would be able to work with solar power,” Noah said.

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wednesday, december 17, 2014

Sixth graders write memoirs of surprising profundity portance of word choice.”

The sixth graders’ memoirs “Fight the urge to live quietly,” and were surprising not because of “Without the effort, life is pointless,” seem the fancy words they found like quite similar statements, but they have a in the thesaurus, but because substantial difference: six years of maturity. of the mature concepts they The former is written by a senior and the lat- employed. ter by a sixth grader.

“I said to them all the Bianca Anderson and Monica Bullock, time ‘If I didn’t see you sixth grade English teachers, first introduced write that in front of me, six-word memoirs to their students this I’d think you had assisyear. tance!’” said Ms. Bullock.

“The six-word memoir is like a mantra “They have such great, highfor your life or a statement about your life, level thinking and they were where you are at this moment,” said Ms. able to put that on paper Bullock. in interesting ways that The students wrote belied their age.” their own six-word To test if the age of memoirs, and spent a writer can be a large amount of determined their time focusthrough a memoir, The ing on their word Evergreen conducted choice. an experiment with students in “Part of the grades six through twelve. addition was to First, we asked a pool of students enhance the unit,” from grades six, eight, nine, and twelve Ms. Bullock said. to write six-word memoirs using the “But it was also same guidelines Ms. Bullock’s and to teach Ms. Anderson’s classes. about Then, we asked a different the pool of students from grades imsix through twelve to sort the memoirs according to the grade level they believed the writer was in. Each person was given a worksheet with 30 memoirs and asked to write the guessed grade level next to each one.

“I suspect that there would be differences [in Photo and graphic by Madison Goodrich and Ariana Zhang different grade levels’ memoirs],” Ms. WORDS OF WISDOM: Sixth grader Katie Kelley, along with Bullock said.

“Beher classmates, wrote six word memoirs like the one above.

Areeba Amer Asst. Views Editor

Memoirs written for The Evergreen’s Experiment 6th Grade • “Without the effort, life is pointless.”

• “Don’t be afraid to let yourself shine.”

• “You will make it; Cinderella did.”

• “Your appearance doesn’t define your heart.”

• “Death; it happens. Memories are eternal.”

8th Grade • “Only your opinion of yourself matters.”

• “My life story? Still not done.”

• “Find your tune. Dance to it.”

• “Hard work accomplishes what seems impossible.”

• “I’m described, not defined by words.”

• “Apprehensive for future, thankful for past.”

9 Grade th

• “Break stereotypes, show the world you. “ • “Good people sometimes do bad things.”

• “Humility and belittling yourself are different.”

• “Perfection isn’t the purpose of progress.”

12th Grade • “Fake it until you make it.”

• “Fight the urge to live quietly.”

• “Hugs are good, pizza is better.”

• “You will always be average somewhere.”

• “99% honesty is the foundation of any relationship.”

• “Trust that your beliefs are unique.”

• “Only in dreams are we free.”

cause [older students] have more years of life experience and can think more deeply about how they’d want to be portrayed.

So I suspect that their six-word memoirs will be even more intense, even more profound.”

It was not so straightforward. The students had difficulty sorting the memoirs into the correct grade levels; most failed to get even five out of 30 correct.

When asked what they believe makes a “senior” memoir, their typical response was word choice and the use of a more complex vocabulary.

“How you use the word and how [much] you understand what you’re saying [makes a mature memoir], not just which word you use,” said freshman Shreya Agarwala.

Ultimately, sophisticated word choice did not sway the reader as much as the concepts.

People tended to mark memoirs with heavier concepts like “Death; it happens.

Memories are eternasl” in the upper grade levels and others with lighter concepts such as “Hugs are good, pizza is better!” in the

lower grade levels.

Most people were shocked to learn the actual grade levels of each, and it was common to see at least one sixth grade memoir mistaken for a senior’s.

“I didn’t think a sixth grader could speak such powerful words,” said seventh grader Jose Portela. “Kind of underestimated them, so to speak.”

Jose was not the only one who underestimated the sixthgraders.

“They [sixth graders] have the capacity to do much more than we expect from them,” Ms. Bullock said, About half of the senior memoirs submitted were mistaken for a sixth grader’s at least once. Many of the senior memoirs submitted had less complex vocabulary compared to sixth and eighth graders.

“

They have such great, high-level thinking and they were able to put that on paper in interesting ways that belied their age.”

Ultimately, some students concluded that age does not matter when deciding the maturity of a person or his or her writing.

“All the silly [memoirs] don’t have to be Middle Schoolers,” said seventh grader Timothy Owens. “But now that I think about it, all the mature ones don’t have to be Upper-Schoolers either.”

Arts the

See p. 8 for a music review battle between Andrew Friedman and Arhum Khan.

Graphic by Anusha Kurapati Photo by Ariana Zhang

Find Christmas through food & film Lane Hirsch Sports Editor

Amna Naseem Features Editor

The holiday season is finally here, filled with love, laughter and cheer, but why do we hold this holiday so dear? Neither one of us actually practices Christianity, so we may seem like the most unqualified pair to make assertions about Christmas traditions or food. Our conversations run more like this: LH: “It tastes amazing, although I’d much prefer some latkes.”

AN: “I’ve never had a latke, but this definitely does not compare to my mother’s home-cooked biryani.”

Nevertheless, we were prepared to seek answers, hungry to try our hand at discovering the true meaning of Christmas. Our quest centered on two primary aspects of the holiday: film and food.

We started our adventure in the North Pole with Buddy the Elf, played by Will Ferrell, in the film Elf. Buddy is a human who was raised as an elf. He leaves the comfort of the North Pole and ventures to New York City to learn about his human heritage.

Buddy lived in the North Pole with Santa, the head honcho of the whole holiday, and yet he still didn’t feel as if Christmas was complete because he wasn’t with his real family.

AN: “Maybe that’s the meaning! It was so simple, but bringing together family and friends is what the holiday is about.”

We had just about concluded that this was the answer to our question when

things took a turn. Buddy was singing at the dinner table, drenching his meal of spaghetti in traditional maple syrup.

Buddy had a weird desire to accompany all his food with syrup, and we had a weird desire to share his enthusiasm. So, we tested it for ourselves.

We boiled the pasta and heated up some Aunt Jemima syrup, dousing our spaghetti. All set and sticky, we dug into our saccharine supper.

LH: “Tastes like chicken!”

AN: “More like pancakes with syrup, but not as bad as I thought it would be.”

The secret’s out! Buddy may have been on to something. And maybe the point of Christmas is also about having a little fun and de-stressing for those two weeks off from school.

Of course we were naïve to think our journey was over. At that moment, Santa appeared on screen. His sled had crashed and wouldn’t fly without holiday cheer, which had been dwindling throughout the film.

As kids, we wholeheartedly believed in the magic of Christmas. As time passed, we started to lose faith in the mystique of it all.

Maybe the point of Christmas is to love and believe in the holiday. And maybe if we could get back the way we felt about the holiday as kids, we could grasp the magic.

The only way to think like a kid was to act like a kid, so we turned on the TV, took off our shoes, and began thinking along the lines of Cindy Lou Who. She was on a crazy adventure just like us and like Buddy, only she was trying to figure out exactly how the Grinch stole Christmas.

The Grinch’s plan to steal food from the Whoville residents’ feast and the ornaments from their trees in order to destroy holiday spirit was a little crazy, but that imaginativeness was the premise for the whole movie.

Maybe we had slightly missed the mark on the true meaning of Christmas. Perhaps

“

Bringing together family and friends is what the holiday is all about.”

it was all about the whimsical creativity of the holiday. After all, the holiday revolves around mythical creatures, so it was plausible that maybe this nonsense was the meaning of Christmas. In order to test this hypothesis, we had to get a little crazy.

We channeled our inner Grinch and made ourselves a can of Who Hash, the traditional Christmas meal for the members of Whoville­­—and, for one night, our own meal, too.

AN: “The Grinch steals the Who Hash from a Whoville home, but we have no idea what it even is.”

LH: “Must be pretty good if he went through all of that trouble to steal it.”

And it was good. We decided that Who Hash is a unique blend of corned beef, onions and potatoes, and a unique blend of a variety of berries.

Actually, it can be a unique blend of anything you want, because that’s the point of the make-believe dish.

Our moms did the cooking and we did most of the eating, but as we dug

into our dinner of make-believe, we realized it would be the perfect addition to anyone’s list of holiday food favorites.

The spicy beef, the taste of onions, and salty sweet potatoes combined into a glorious mix that was all just too much. Literally, just too much, culminating in overly stuffed stomachs.

At that point, we decided maybe we’d missed a turn somewhere back at the North Pole and gone astray on the meaning of Christmas. We decided it was time to revert to the classics and see if we could find our answer there.

LH: “Miracle on 34th Street is definitely my favorite Christmas film.

It never feels like Christmas until I’ve watched the movie.”

After trying our hand as Cindy Lou Who, a character whose whole life revolves around Christmas, it was interesting to watch six-year old Susan Walker deny it exists. Then, there is the miracle of Kris Kringle giving Susan Walker something to believe in. No miracles are needed when watching the film. All that’s required is a cup of hot chocolate or a glass of eggnog, and of course some family and friends.

AN: “The fact that all Susan Walker wants for Christmas is a family really speaks volumes to what the true meaning of Christmas is.”

We had come full circle. Christmas is a time to be with family or friends. It took a lot of trial and error and some crazy food to get to this simple conclusion.

Though maybe we knew it all along.

The craziest thing we’ll try next year is putting applesauce on our latkes…and maybe some on our biryani.

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Evergreen

wednesday, december 17, 2014

An enlightened debate of the musical stylings of Ariana Grande I

think I’ve heard more criticism of Ariana Grande in the past month than any other celebrity (besides maybe Kim Kardashian). Grande’s newest album, My Everything, came out in late August, but Grande is still making headlines for her recent Grammy’s performance, mostly because of an awkward moment with her latest boyfriend, Big Sean, in which he went in for a kiss but she turned away. In her recent music videos, Grande wears little clothing, which is probably uncomfortable for parents of Grande fans.

But despite all of the drama surrounding her, I am rooting for Ariana Grande. Here’s why: 1. Ariana Grande redeems pop music lyrically. In a world where pop lyrics focus primarily on having a big behind (just RapGenius “All About That Bass” or “Anaconda”), Grande is our Jesus. Although her music videos may be a little too explicit, her lyrics deal with the emotional side of relationships rather than the purely physical.

Just look at the song “Best Mistake,” in which Grande sings with Big Sean about the “I love you, but we’re not made for each other” conflict that happens in many relationships. Critics (ahem, Arhum) may say that Grande “spams the radio,” but I would say that her songs are the kind of spam that the radio needs. In the album’s title track, “My Everything,” Grande sings: “Now that you’re gone, my heart is missing something/ So it’s time to push my pride away.”

She belts out these lines with refreshing candor and humility and admits to letting stardom get in the way of her relationship.

Contemporary pop music is in desperate need of both a moral bailout and songs with artistic merit. Grande offers both.

2. Ariana Grande can actually sing.

Arhum calls her singing “squeaking,” but her four-octave vocal range has earned her comparisons to Mariah Carey. Yes, Carey had a five-octave range in the ‘90s, but the conflict unfolding in the comment section of Grande’s cover of Carey’s “Emotion” is raging for a reason. Fans may disagree over whether Carey or Grande was better in her heyday, but they can agree that Grande’s voice is the best pop music has seen in a long time.

3. Ariana Grande has innovated popmusic. In My Everything, she fuses ‘90s R&B

with modern, bass-driven pop and dance.

To achieve this, Grande collaborated with a cast of talented artists: Big Sean, Childish Gambino, Cashmere Cat, Zedd, A$AP Ferg, The Weeknd, Nicki Minaj, Jessie J, Harry Styles. Max Martin, who has produced for Britney Spears and Kelly Clarkson, backs up the ‘90s sound with the songs “Problem” and “Bang Bang.” The collaboration makes for a captivating album; I never found myself bored, and none of her songs sound too similar (a problem for a lot of pop artists these days—cough cough, Pitbull).

4. Ariana Grande is genuine. Having turned 21 this past June, Grande has moved past singing ballads about pianos (see “Piano” from her previous album, Yours Truly) and into themes that relate to her life right now. Maybe she hasn’t worked out how on-stage PDA’s will go with Big Sean in the future, but Grande is doing her best to make great music, and that’s all we can ask for.

review by Andrew Friedman

W

ith her sophomore album recently released, Ariana Grande has matured… kind of. But unlike my colleague Andrew, I see the same bubble-gum-infused theater girl, only 21 and dating famous rapper Big Sean (a great artist).

Only a year ago the Nickelodeon star was being introduced into the music industry as the “next Mariah Carey” while singing melodramatic and fast-paced pop ballads. Now, Grande’s album features a set of popular rappers like Iggy Azalea, Nicki Minaj and A$AP Ferg. If you are remotely familiar with the type of music these artists make, sure enough, Ms. Grande is playing with the big (provocative) kids now. Even the covers of her two albums are similar.

Things really haven’t changed.

No doubt Grande is blessed with spectacular singing ability, but when she consistently squeaks for 15 straight tracks, I simply get annoyed. With the wide variety of beats and musical genres the album consists of, her voice is not versatile enough. One cannot simply belt out ballads over deep piano chords like the song “My Everything” and maintain the same tone over high hats

in dancing trap beats, such as the song “Hands On Me.” I love Big Sean. He is an excellent and talented rapper with a good voice and a skillful flow. Nothing is sadder than hearing him wasting his breath in clever rhyme schemes and word plays over a weak beat and corny lyrical slaughter. Despite their romantic relationship, Grande is not of Big Sean’s caliber. In their song together, “Best Mistake” Grande explains that if “the world goes blind, boy/you know, I’ll be savin’ my love for you.” I hope my world keeps its vision.

Her lyrics aren’t very relatable.

Ariana Grande shows that she has a lot of room to grow as a songwriter. Popping out radiofriendly hits for the teenage world is much less respectable than well-crafted messages and artistic superiority, which she has the voice and talent to execute. I’m sure he was making his girlfriend happy, but rapping on this album was not Big Sean’s best mistake.

All jokes aside, I respect Grande’s ability to gather such a hefty and accomplished list of features (even if most of the songs themselves were vile).

Clearly she has some impressive connections, from the assortment of rappers to amazing DJ’s like Zedd and Cashmere Cat, or the song “Love Me Harder”, with The Weeknd.

Ariana Grande wouldn’t have been so annoying on this album if I hadn’t heard so many of her singles on the radio since June.

Not only were records like “Bang Bang” and “Problem” purely mediocre, hearing them on every station every time I got in the car ruined them for me. If this album does anything well, it is spamming the radio.

So Grande has matured, kind of. Her baby face has stayed constant since the beginning of her still young career. Although she’s grown out of being Cat from Victorious and has stopped using too many poppy Instagram filters (see @arianagrande), she still talks about the same subjects in the same way. She has produced two mediocre pop albums, but if Grande finds a consistent sound that fits her, she’ll be even better. I can count on Andrew to give me advice on electronic music at anytime, but he just has it wrong when it comes to my pop playlist

review by Arhum Khan

Destroy to Achieve: Taking sledgehammers to the Zale-Fields Theater Megan Wiora Views Editor

Simra Abedi Staff Writer

In the upcoming weeks, students wearing gloves and goggles and with sledgehammers in hand will destroy the back wall that connects the Zale-Fields Theater stage to the tech shop behind. Shards of plaster will fly as students hack at the old theater’s wall. This is not just premature demolition as we transition to the new performing-arts center. In fact, a musical will be performed in this very theater in two months.

As they prepare to produce The Addams Family, the last musical to be housed in the 40-yearold black-box theater, the technical theater crew saw a unique opportunity: they could drill a hole into the theater’s back wall to

create more space.

“For the last production, we saw that we had the ability to milk the theater for everything it’s worth,” said Michael Orman, technical theater director.

The production will be large-scale, incorporating a moving set, a second-story balcony and numerous special effects. This is the first time in many years that the balcony will be used as a piece of the musical set. In the musical, the upstairs audience will have a different experience than those downstairs.

“We decided to make the most of the space and work in the set design to incorporate stairs up to the balcony. It will be fun for the audience on the second level to have a different kind of connection with the actors,” said Catherine Hopkins, Upper School theater director.

“They’re being a lot more liberal with the set. It’s the last year, so they are allowed to make permanent changes,” said senior Emma Pillow, who will play Wednesday Addams, one of the leads.

Senior Rachel Davis, stage manager, agreed.

“It’s a great way to use the space in a way we couldn’t if we weren’t changing theaters,” she said.

The previous performance in the theater was Our Town, a production with a much smaller scale and simpler set design. The Addams Family is completely different.

“It’s more what you think of when you think of a Broadway musical,” Emma said.

They will be able to use the space for music and dancing in a way they could not previously.

“The play lends itself to unconventional things, such as cutting into the shop wall, because in The Addams Family, they are such a strange family,” Rachel said.

The fact that The Addams

drive people into the theater and create interest,” Mr. Orman said.

“Our goal isn’t to have interest in the theater because of the new space, but to have interest in theater because of theater itself.

We are trying to raise the level of production.”

The Addams Family also has a bigger cast than previous years.

For the last production, “Part of our goal in theater we saw that we had is to expose as many people to the ability to milk theater as possible. To do a larger the theater for show with a larger cast really everything it’s worth.” opens it up to more people,” Mr. Orman said.

The sledgehammers are also Family is such a big-scale play can a stepping-stone for what’s to showcase the theater program’s come. Once the school year ends, capibilities. To the performers, the theater program will transitech crew, and faculty, having a tion to the new Marshall Fambig last production is special. ily Fine Arts Center, and the tech “One of the things we are students will get to take down the really trying to do is not wait rest of the old theater’s walls with until we are in a new space to no intent of repair.

“

wednesday, december 17 , 2014

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Evergreen

Q&A

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Valerie Gillespie ‘98

What kind of impact did taking art at Greenhill make on you?

Mrs. Gruben is the reason I’m an art teacher. It was such a great experience. In fifth grade up until high school, I had her, and I always enjoyed art. She just believed in me and she pushed me to keep on painting. I felt in my heart that this is what I wanted to do, and I looked at Mrs. Gruben and I wanted to be the woman and teacher she was.

my life.

What do you like best about yoga?

It’s very calming. I feel like the fast-paced nature of teaching and having a family and working and just life in general can be so chaotic at times. Yoga helps balance it out.

You keep in shape, too. Yoga is my

Art teacher, yoga mom

de-stress thing. It always has been.

There’s also just something very mentally stimulating about it. I feel like it’s that great pathway or avenue to enjoying yourself and being at peace with yourself, so you can give that to others.

Do you think yoga affects your art in any way?

What do you want your students to take out of art classes?

Has yoga affected you spiritually?

Not everyone is an artist or is going to become an artist. But I do think that everyone can have an appreciation for the arts. That’s my main goal. I just want every student that comes in to my class to leave with an appreciation for art.

Do you have any hobbies outside of school?

Oh, my gosh yes. Yoga! I just received my certification for yoga instruction. Yoga is a big part of

Definitely! I started yoga ten years ago, and my art pre-yoga is so different from my art postyoga. The art pre-yoga was very contrived, tight and meticulous.

Just so rigid. The art after is fluid, it’s loose, there’s mistakes, there’s colors that don’t go together and it’s abstract. It’s more honest, real and powerful. The art pre-yoga is like “Oh, yeah, I think I should have this bowl of fruit here. Isn’t it pretty? Look I can draw’” It seemed like what was safe or what I could sell was what I did. Now it’s, “I’m doing this for myself and I’m having fun.”

Photo by Ariana Zhang

SMILE POSE: Mrs. Gillespie smiles in her art room, where she teaches Middle School 2-D Art, Fashion Drawing, Painting, and Drawing.

It has. Pre-yoga I was definitely different than how I am now. I think that yoga helped me to understand who I am and accept it and embrace it and enjoy it. I think before I was definitely more anxious. I cared more about what others thought and I was stressed all the time about everything and anything. I was younger then and still in school and grades mattered.

There was always this anxiety. Now

I can calm myself easily in any situation. I just enjoy life more.

I’m able to slow down. I enjoy my daughter. I enjoy waking up in the morning. I enjoy teaching. It’s fascinating. I definitely think that yoga can change your mentality.

What got you into yoga?

It’s funny, ten years ago I wouldn’t be able to talk about this, but my little brother died in a car accident several years ago.

There was so much sorrow and depression and grief from the loss of my little brother who was 20 at the time. I just didn’t know how to cope, so I would paint a little bit, and that helped a little, but I needed something more. So a friend of mine introduced me to a yoga class, and I liked how I felt after that one class, and ever since then I’ve been doing it. I’ve noticed that yoga, art, meditation, and a vegetarian lifestyle helped me to understand and deal with life and loss and stuff that happens everyday that’s still so sad. story by Christina Zhu

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Everg

Catherine Leffert Arts Editor

Ellen Margaret Andrews Staff Writer

A three-year-old sits in her carseat in the back seat of the family car, ready to begin a two-hour drive.

Her mother backs the car away from the house the girl has known her whole life. There’s something missing.

“Mommy, where’s Daddy?” she asks. “He’s not coming, sweetheart.”

According to a recent New York Times article that gathered data from a number of sources, divorce rates peaked in the 1970s and have decreased since.

Now, 41 percent of first marriages end in divorce. At Greenhill, The Evergreen surveyed 100 Upper School students to compare the results. The survey reported a parent divorce rate of 24 percent. Twenty-one percent reported having step-or half-siblings from a parents’ remarriage.

Breaking the News Sophomore Hayes Barton’s parents divorced when he was nine years old.

“I don’t think I knew what was going on at the time. I knew my dad was moving out, but I didn’t really comprehend why or what was happening,” Hayes said.

Junior Sydney Barnes, who was 15 years old when her parents divorced, said she understood immediately what was about to happen when her parents called her and her younger sister, who was eight years old at the time, to their kitchen table.

“I remember very well,” Sydney said. “I wasn’t completely oblivious. I knew there was conflict. So when my mom was crying, I knew what she was going to say. I started crying too.

And my sister was really confused until they said why we were all sitting together. They said they were getting divorced.”

Priya Singhvi, Upper School Counselor, said that children’s initial reactions vary. It’s often best, she said, for the child to take a step back, state what he or she feels and wants during and after the divorce, and listen to what their parents have to say.

According to Ms. Singhvi, over time, children of divorce say often that it offers a more positive solution to conflict in a marriage.

Hayes agreed. “It’s not the best situation, but it was the best decision.”

According to Sydney, divorce offered a calmer alternative to when her parents were married.

“I like them being separated because they’re not fighting and it’s more peaceful,” Sydney said. “It’s got its benefits.”

Family Dynamics

Freshmen Gregory and Matthew Toudouze’s parents divorced when they were six years old.

Their family evolved into a completely different configuration.

Over the years, both parents have remarried.

Gregory, Matthew and their older sister, Taylor, a Hockaday sophomore, got two stepmothers. Their mom came out as lesbian. Their mom’s wife already had an adopted daughter from China before her marriage to their mother.

They recently adopted twins together.

Their dad and his new wife have a daughter together named Noelle, who is now four years old.

Gregory and Matthew went from a nuclear family of five to

separate families: their father’s of six and their mother’s of seven.

“It’s kind of cool now because I have a very different family,” Gregory said.“Having our parents divorced [has] given us a new perspective to not take your family for granted. We don’t see our dad every week. Some people are used to going home and seeing both of their parents and their whole family. You need to cherish that time with them.”

Because they were so young, neither Gregory nor Matthew said they felt as though they were immediately affected by the changes their family experienced. According to them, having two moms has never been a big deal, especially because of the accepting environment they’ve grown up in.

However, a new stepparent adds a previously unknown authority that may change certain rules and regulations or the energy of the home.

“Our stepmom brought in a whole new atmosphere of fun and of being who you are,” Matthew said. “We are a lot more easy-going because of her. Because my parents are gay is not the reason we are the way we are. It’s about the spouse that came in.”

They also get to see their parents a different way. “[Our parents] are great friends now and it’s great for us because we never see them argue or fight,” Matthew said.

Two Houses Junior Megan Marshall, who moved with her mom to Wichita Falls when her parents divorced, when she was three. Because she was so young, the dynamic of having two households is something she’s always known. She returned to her dad’s house, two hours away in Dallas, every other weekend.

“I thought my dad was going to come with us eventually. It was challenging going back between my mom and my dad’s house since my mom lived two hours away,” Megan said.

Junior Nicky Cannon’s parents divorced when he was in first grade, placing on him and his brother the hardship of traveling between his mom and dad’s house.

“The most detrimental part for me was having to pack up all of my school supplies and all of my personal electronics every single Friday and having to take them to the other house for the week,” Nicky said.

Children whose families split up often reported that their school lives are affected.

According to Sydney, her parents’ divorce, which happened the summer before her sophomore year, took a toll on her schoolwork as she tried to adjust to the new family dynamic and the challenges of the separation.

Eighth grader Scottie Pearson, whose parents divorced when she was in second grade said that having to constantly shuffle schoolwork between houses adds a level of stress to her daily life.

“Hauling stuff back and forth gets really exhausting,” she said.

In order to stay organized, she packs her backpack every day with the things she needs, including clothes and studying materials, so she won’t lose track of anything between houses.

“I carry my whole entire life in there,” she said Ginna Johnson, Middle School Counselor, said that divorce can make schoolwork more difficult on several levels, especially for Middle School students.

“In a time when they’re trying to figure out how to be organized and get their homework done and manage their time, the back and forth thing can

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wednesday, december 17, 2014

Dealing with Divorce throw them for a loop,” Ms. Johnson said.

Junior Lily Pigott, who has many friends with divorced parents, said she knows her friends occasionally leave school supplies at one parent’s house, which leaves them unprepared in class.

Besides that, however, she said she doesn’t see her friends with divorced parents any differently than the rest of her peers.

“I don’t think anyone supports divorce, but it’s so common nowadays there there isn’t much negative connotation behind [it],” Lily said. “You aren’t going to treat anyone differently if their parents are divorced.”

Feelings As Nicky sees it, society views a split couple as a failure.

“People will see divorce as a failure and a bad thing, kind of like giving up,” Nicky said. “It’s acceptable for people to be smart about [marriage] and admit to themselves, ‘We tried our best and we fought as hard as we could, but this just wasn’t meant to last.’”

Reasons for separation often take into account the best interest of the children as well as the parents. When parents fight and create conflict in the household, their children suffer as well.

“I wouldn’t be the same if I had married parents. My parents would not have been happy or healthy if they had stayed together,” Nicky said.

“Instead of having two separate but healthy homes, I would have had a messy, aggressive, sad home. If your parents get a divorce they are doing that because they think it is in everyone’s best interest.

They aren’t doing it to make anyone else angry or to get back at someone.”

Megan’s mother, Stephanie Ledyard, agreed that a misconception about divorce is that one person could have prevented it or caused it, or that divorce implies a disaster.

“It really it can be a variety of reasons,” Mrs. Ledyard said. “I think it’s not a failure on our part. We made the right choices. It wasn’t easy, but it was best for our family.”

Megan also challenged the notion that divorced parents do nothing but fight.

“A lot of people think that parents always hate each other,” Megan said.“It’s not always true.”

As for how feelings can manifest themselves in children of divorce, according to Ms. Singvhi, it depends on both the situation and the child. Ms. Singhvi said she finds it unfortunate that society tends to pin labels on genders.

“Society cultivates people to believe that anger is an acceptable emotion for a male and sadness is an acceptable emotion for a female,” Ms. Singhvi said.

“If it were reversed, if a female were angry she might be viewed as aggressive or a bully. If a male is sad he might be perceived as a wuss, needing to man up. These are unhelpful reactions to normal emotions.

At the bottom of it all, it is usually confusion and sadness and you have to create a safe space for someone to express that. If someone is struggling after a divorce, they should reach out to someone they trust, such as a teacher, advisor, or parent.”

According to Ms. Singhvi, there is a tendency for children of divorce to blame themselves for the split.

“When [parents] don’t tell [their child] directly about what’s going on then they can only imagine what is going on, and their imagined version may be very different.” for Scottie said that she tended to blame herself

her parents’ divorce as well.

“When I was little I always thought that they fought over me and stuff having to do with me and my brother,” Scottie said.

Because of this, she sometimes thought it was her fault. Parents can try to counter this tendency through clear communication.

“My parents stressed that it was nothing me or my brother did,” Hayes said.

At Greenhill School functions where parents and their child are involved together such as parent/teacher conferences and prom present students and families of divorce with the question of how to approach the situation.

“When it’s time for prom they will either say ‘We’re fine to be sitting together’ or ‘We don’t want to be at the same table.’ If that’s the case usually one parent doesn’t come, because they aren’t going to put the kid in the middle and say, ‘Who are you going to sit with?’” said Jack Oros, Dean of Students.

Regarding conferences, both Ms. Singhvi and Mr. Oros agreed that although there is no direct training for advisors on how to handle the dynamic of conferencing with divorced parents, advisors are sensitive to family situations and handle it well.

As for how Greenhill students respond to a peer going through divorce, according to Ms. Singhvi, they are often, wary of students bringing up the subject of a friends’ parents’ divorce.

“We think that asking about it will make a person think about it and all these feelings flood in,” Ms. Singhvi said.

However, she said it is important to acknowledge when a friend is going through a difficult time and to extend support.

“You can have someone still be an ally even if they’ve never been a child of divorce,” said Ms. Singhvi.

Hayes also said that for him it is important for teachers to openly offer support.

“I had a teacher who was [supportive] when [the divorce] was just beginning and she was a big part of it.

School was a good place to go, because I had someone there that was always supportive,” Hayes said.

The Future Even students who see their parents separate and divorce still believe that love is attainable.

“It just makes me want to find true love and make sure it’s true love before I get married,” Sydney said.

“I think it exists, it just didn’t exist with my parents. It doesn’t make me think poorly of marriage.”

Megan also said she believes in love.

“I think there are people more compatible than others.

Lasting love is attainable and everyone looks for it,” Megan said. “Part of why divorce happens is circumstances s u r r o u n d i n g marriage, and it doesn’t mean that they were never in love or less in love. It just didn’t work out. My parents’ divorce didn’t ruin my perspective on love.”

Hayes said that even though his parents were not the best example of true love, others do exist.

“I see people like my grandparents who were married over 60 years. Other times, it’s just not right,” Hayes said. graphic by Ariana Zhang

11

Features the

See p. 14 for more on the new robotics instructor.

Origins of our Songs The annual holiday sing-along features notable songs, including “Hail to Greenhill,” “12 Days of Christmas Greenhill Style” and “I am a Latke.”

Many Greenhill students will boastfully talk about these unique traditions embedded into the rich Greenhill tapestry, but few have any idea of their origins.

Alongside the holiday sing-along, the annual Founder’s Day Assembly includes the famous “Best Friends” song. Tom Perryman ‘81, Assistant Head of School, describes the sound as “rocking the gym.” During both the holiday sing-along and the Founder’s Day Assembly, all the students and even some of the fun-loving teachers wrap their arms around one another, bellowing the unique lyrics of each song.

Photos courtesy of Tom Perryman, Katie Young, and Emily Wilson

BUILDING COMMUNITY: Heart of the Hill was implemented to bridge interactions between younger and older students through activities that include sidewalk chalk, arts and crafts, planting trees and group discussions. An HOH group holds up customized shirts.

HOH: Heartwarming or a Hassle?

Abbas Hasan Joseph Weinberg Staff Writers

In 1997, a group of seniors wondered how they could bring the school together.

The school was feeling disconnected, upper schoolers never interacted with middle schoolers or lower schoolers. The seniors decided that an activity that would involve all students would solve their problem. After the idea was presented to former Head of School Peter Briggs and approved, Heart of the Hill, better known as HOH, was established. Ever since, HOH has been a part of Greenhill student life.

“The little kids admire the big kids [in HOH], high schoolers are their heroes,” said Tom Perryman, Assistant Head of School.

Mr. Perryman is the one of the only members of the Greenhill community who is not assigned to an HOH group.

For lower schoolers, HOH is a rare opportunity to interact with older students.

“It is the one thing we have in common with [upper schoolers],” said Leah Smith, fourth grader.

The older members of legacy groups are the only insight younger students have into that division of Greenhill. This can end up having a long-lasting influence on the lower schoolers in each HOH group.

“They can give us advice on how to succeed in middle and upper school,” said Hayden McClard, fourth grader.

Lower schoolers said they cherish the times they spend with their older friends at Greenhill and remember their experiences.

“I wish we could have HOH a little bit more often because it is super fun,” Hayden said. “My favorite part is just getting to hang out with kids that are older than us.”

Even occasionally seeing their older HOH members around campus can excite the lower school students.

“I love when [fellow HOH members] just say ‘hi’ to me outside the lunchroom,”

said James Gary, first grader.

Mr. Perryman said that one of the main missions of the program is to make lower schoolers feel welcome and find companions all around campus.

“Its building community,” he said.

As the years pass and students grow older, they can lose sight of HOH’s importance and true meaning. As they get caught up in their busy lives, they forget the role HOH played in their lower school years.

“I think it [HOH] is a waste of time because age difference is so great. You can’t create bonds with people who have such different interests,” said sophomore Matthew Gold.

According to Mr. Perryman, HOH is not a perfect program and it will not always work out how it was originally envisioned.

“Each group is a family and like any family, you will have those who roll their eyes and you will have the ones who are way too into it.” Mr. Perryman said. “Each one will function differently.”

In order to ensure the lower schoolers have an enjoyable, memorable experience in HOH groups, upper schoolers must be willing to do their part.

“It’s worth the time to create relationships. To be a community, you need to have relationships with different people,” said senior Emily Richmond.

Many older students strive to be the best role models they can for the lower schoolers to ensure they benefit most from the program.

“Be a good role model, you need to realize that you are the big kids and [the lower schoolers] look up to you, you have to teach them to be respectful,” said senior Sophie Bradford. “They might remember you and you want to make a good impression”.

Upper schoolers are aware of the impact they can leave on younger students and can feed off of the enthusiasm they bring to the HOH group.

“I really see the younger kids become engaged with me at the HOH activity during homecoming week,” Matthew said. “That week is full of spirit and it shows during HOH.” Middle schoolers play a more ambiguous role in HOH. They are not responsible for leading the groups like the upper schoolers but they are not the youngest kids in the group either.

“The age group that struggles the most with Heart of the Hill is Middle School, because the big kids enjoy the little kids, and the little kids look up to them,” Mr. Perryman said.

Looking back, HOH has produced memories and relationships that upper schoolers say they will never forget about their Greenhill career.

“I really liked when we would bring in our own books and we would share [them]. I loved to see them [the older kids] say ‘I loved that book’ or ‘I still love that book,” Emily said. “I remember my first year, there was a guy named Jon, he was the coolest guy ever, he was funny and I looked up to him.”

Not only do students benefit from HOH, but it also gives faculty members a chance to build relationships with students they might normally not get to interact with.

“What I love most about HOH is getting to watch students grow and develop from kindergarten all the way up to 12th grade,” said Letha-Boulware Tait, Lower school office coordinator. “It is a special opportunity that we have and I would hate to see Greenhill not have a program like it.”

Few schools, if any, have programs like HOH built into the school year like Greenhill.

“It is something that is unique to Greenhill, and when I talk to other schools [about it] they are completely envious,” Mr Perryman said. “When I walk around all the groups, I see smiles and laughs, bonding and connections, it just warms my heart.”

“I am a Latke” “I am a Latke,” a song about Hanukah, was introduced to Greenhill in the mid 90’s and was first sung

by Jewish Science teacher Israel Shlomovich. He thought it would be a fun song that would incorporate Jewish traditions into Greenhill. Although “I am a Latke” is a popular song throughout the Jewish community, Greenhill added its own quirks to the song. To make the song our own, two seniors are picked every year to lead the crowd during the annual holiday sing-along, dressed in traditional Jewish garb. Furthermore, the seniors hand out posters with the chorus’s lyrics – “I am a latke, I am a latke, and I am waiting, for Hanukah to come” – so that students can enjoy the song on stage as well.

“Best Friends” The “Best Friends” Song is from a second grade music book, and was also taught to the third grade for many years before being sung at the Founder’s Day Assembly. Mr. Perryman and the staff wanted a song that was cheerful and embraced the Greenhill values of community and friendship.

“Best Friends” was chosen and was sung in the gym for the first time in September 2001. Although the song was first sung while the tragic events of 9/11 occured, it brought the Greenhill community together and highlighted the importance of friendship.

“Hail to Greenhill” “Hail to Greenhill,” our School song, was composed and written by David Hunt and David Guion in 1953.

The two composers wanted to showcase their pride in Greenhill and its values.

story by Stephen Crotty

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True to Their Roots

Amna Naseem Features Editor

“Why aren’t the shelves at Target filled with caramel and chocolate Barbies with big afros?” The question came from Karen Bradberry, Director of Equity and Inclusion.

As we sat in Dr. Bradberry’s office, talking about modern perceptions of African-American beauty with Michelle Smith, Upper School science teacher, and Karin Thomas, Upper School English teacher, all three lamented the lack of Afro Barbies in stores.

In today’s society, beauty and the manipulation of one’s appearance are controversial topics.

“You seldom find an Afro Barbie that has light skin,” Mrs. Smith said.

“They have black Barbies, but they have straight hair,” Dr. Thomas said.

Many African-American women today are faced with a choice between wearing their natural hair or applying harmful chemicals in order to change its texture.

Is it worth the permanent damage? Does having curly, untamed, or natural hair make women less professional or less attractive?

Where do these ideas come from?

Although all three women have worn their natural hair in a professional atmosphere, they all acknowledged that this was sometimes frowned upon by colleagues or students.

“You’re supposed to [apply chemicals] and just suck it up. If you want to look ‘professional’ or ‘presentable’ you’re supposed to get your hair done,” Dr. Thomas said.

Coloring hair or wearing a weave or braids leaves the hair unprocessed. Processing hair–creating curls, straightening, and using relaxers–changes its texture. This comes at a physical cost.

“My objective is not against putting any chemicals in my hair, but rather against altering the texture, because [that] requires me to put calcium [and sodium] hydroxide on my head,” Mrs. Smith said.

“

I find it both interesting and frustrating that [people think that] not having straight hair is not normal.”

Calcium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide, two primary ingredients in many relaxers, has negative effects on both the scalp and hair. It can burn the scalp and leaves the hair brittle.

Dr. Bradberry said one of the main micro-aggressions African-American students say they suffer has to do with people’s fascination with black hair. In her work with students, “[They talk about] how tired they are [of] people touching their hair and people asking them about their hair,” she

said. “But really, we just need to demystify African-American hair. [Our hair] is not that big of a deal. Why is it so fascinating?”

“Our hair is like a sculpture. And it’s not considered the norm when you’re talking about Eurocentric beauty. But, I’ve always loved the fact that you can do so much with [our] hair,” Dr. Thomas said.

When I asked the trio what they think prompts women to alter their hair, Mrs. Smith said, “I think it’s the Eurocentric ideal of what beauty is”–an ideal with straight hair and light skin.

“The Eurocentric ideal of beauty [prompts] not only African-Americans, but all people of color, to change their own ideas of beauty,” Dr. Bradberry said. “And the reason that this is even interesting is because [African-Americans] have decided that we are going to push against that.”

“There are lots of black women who are deciding that they want to ‘swim upstream’ [push against stereotypical ideals],” Mrs. Smith said.

“But then again, I don’t know of many black women who have not, at some point in time, processed their hair,” Dr. Thomas said. “And I think that’s because there’s this general association that the straighter your hair is, the more beautiful you are.”

“I find it both interesting and frustrating that [people think that] not having straight

hair is not normal,” Mrs. Smith said.

“Our hair is definitely beautiful and versatile and different,” Dr. Bradberry said.

“But, thanks to the insidious socialization we receive from the media and outside forces, our beautiful African-American girls are being made to feel like their hair is not only different, but [also] ‘less than.’ Look at the shelves in any large store–you’ll quickly see why we tend to define beauty using the Eurocentric lens. That’s sad.

Though American culture may idealize straight hair and tan skin, other cultures have very different standards of beauty. For example, while some people may frown upon African-American women wearing their hair naturally, others may hold it as their standard for beauty.

“Even what we think is beautiful is actually probably culturally selected,” Dr. Thomas said.

Dr. Bradberry, Mrs. Smith, and Dr. Thomas all have children to whom they have tried to impart a broader perception of beauty. They also set an example by wearing their natural hair and encouraging their daughters, nieces and other female relatives to proudly wear their natural hair too.

“My girls are curly-headed girls, and they don’t use chemicals on their hair. And I take pride [in the fact that] they haven’t changed their texture,” Dr. Thomas said.

Photos by Ruchita Iyer

LOVING THEIR LOOK: (left to right) Mrs. Smith, Dr. Bradberry, and Dr. Thomas all wear their natural hair. They proudly wearing natural hair. The three faculty members are ardent believers that any person should feel comfortable in his or her own skin.

Beating The Buzz Rush

How long it takes to grab a Kit-Kat between classes at your favorite Hornet hotspot

2 min, 30 sec @03:45 PM 4 min, 24 sec @04:15 PM 0 min, 52 sec @12:45 PM

compiled by Ben Krakow

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Engineering Enthusiast

Managing Editor

In Venezuela, she was often one of three or four other women in her engineering classes.

“There were very few women in this field at the time,” said Maria Suarez, Upper School Computer Science teacher, a new teacher at Greenhill this year. “But I remember when I came to the States to finish my Masters, and I told people I was an engineer. They were surprised. I guess being a woman in engineering was even more uncommon here.”

Before she became a teacher, Ms. Suarez was an industrial engineer for over 20 years. She worked at various consulting firms in jobs that took her abroad.

She worked in Thailand for ten years and had her first exposure to teaching at Raumrudee International School in Bangkok, Thailand.

One day, Ms. Suarez’s friends, who taught at Raumrudee, invited her to teach a lesson.

“I didn’t think I would enjoy teaching. But then I started teaching at the school just for fun. I never knew how much I liked teaching,” she said.

Ms. Suarez’s first position was teaching Spanish at the same international school. With the Internet emerging, Ms. Suarez decided she wanted to learn m o r e about the field of

computer technology.

“There was so much to learn with this new phase of computer technology.

I was extremely dedicated to my students’ education, so I always tried to promote and learn these new computer skills with them and for them,” Ms. Suarez said.

While at Raumrudee, she went on to teach math and then decided to promote the importance of creating electronics.

She made that a part of her school’s teaching program.

“I wanted to promote engineering because it’s what I love. When you love to learn, then you can inspire other people to learn,” she said.

Ms. Suarez was first introduced to engineering when she was a junior in high school. After her science teacher took her class on a field trip to a refinery, Ms. Suarez realized she wanted to pursue engineering as a career. “[When I was at the refinery], I was in awe. My mother said I was always very smart and that I should be an engineer. We met all types of engineers and they showed us how everything works. I loved being able to see how things are done. My mother was the one who guided me,” she said.

For students that enjoy drawing or sculpting, art classes are a place for them to hone their skills. Ms. Suarez added that engineering is an art of its own.

“Engineering is a venue for kids who like to create. Engineering is creating and innovating,” Ms. Suarez said.

Ms. Suarez’s job at Trinity Christian Academy, a school in Florida, was her initiation into the world of robotics.

“I had a student who wanted to start a club in robotics. I had never worked with it before and I had no idea how to do it at the time, but we decided to do it anyways,” she said.

Since she had no prior experience, Ms. Suarez shuttled back and forth between neighboring schools that had a robotics team as she learned what to do. This “learning as you go” is part of her philosophy.

“If students come to me for help with new ideas, I will try to help them, but if I do not know it I will try to learn it myself. I like it when students are the ones leading the way,” Ms. Suarez said.

She highly advocates self-education.

“Instead of kids playing video games in their free time, they should go onto Youtube and spend some time learning about something new,” she said.

Ms. Suarez also started a similar program at Wasatch Academy, a boarding school in Utah, where she taught math.

Like in Florida and Utah, Ms. Suarez started from a clean slate with the robotics club at Greenhill, as many students did not have prior exposure to robotics. She also hopes to start an engineering program.

“It has been a lot of long, tough hours.

I usually stay after school and come in on Saturdays. I love it,” she said.

As the robotics team mentor, Ms. Suarez gives students freedom and autonomy while still guiding them. She spends the extra time assisting the team in creating their robots.

“She tells us not do certain things and she’s been doing this a lot longer than us.

She has so much experience,” said freshman Jason Wu, a member of the robotics team.

Although the robotics club meets daily after school and on weekends, Ms. Suarez hopes to get some robotics classes, which would meet during the day, up and running for next year’s enrollment.

“I want students to learn how to learn. I see teachers as facilitators, guiding the students through the process of learning. Especially in fields like technology

Photo by Varun Gupta

REFINING ROBOTS: Mrs. Suarez (above) works on the current robotics project.

and engineering. Students need to have the desire and initiative to learn, otherwise they will plateau,” Ms. Suarez said.

“Ms. Suarez has a very can-do attitude,” said junior Ali Babool, also a member of the robotics team. “She is also a great reference for me and other members of the robotics team, because some of us want to go into engineering.”

In her junior advisory, Ms. Suarez likes to discuss future career and college plans.

“We talk about college in advisory sometimes,” said her advisee junior Hartley McGuire. “In general she has good ideas about college stuff. Maybe it’s a little early for us to be thinking about it, but it’s good that she knows a lot.”

Both Ali and Hartley agreed on one thing: Ms. Suarez is passionate. “[She] is really, really enthusiastic,” Hartley said.

Ms. Suarez enjoys learning about different cultures and ethnic traditions.

In her free time, she likes cooking foods from different countries.

“I love different spices and I love going to different ethnic stores just to go and see the spices and food. I love doing that in my free time,” she said. Her favorite type of food to cook and eat is Thai.

Bots for Thoughts: The MS Idea Lab

Mia Krumerman Staff Writer

Graphic by Anurag Kurapati

It is 4:00 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon and Don Myers, Middle School STEM Facilitator, is sitting with the Middle School robotics team inside the newly refurbished Idea Lab. Surrounded by Legos, the students restlessly swivel in their chairs as they discuss their entries for their next robotics competition. Some are intensely focused, jotting down every word their revered teacher says, others are sneakily playing with their robots while they half listen, and a few are whispering about the competition. But everyone in the room looks excited. Their energy is electric. In just half a year, the Idea Lab has become one of the most popular classrooms in the Middle School.

“I hear a lot of [students saying that they are] excited to go to Exploratory Design, [a class taught in the lab,] or that [they] can’t wait to get there,” said Mr. Myers. “If you were looking at my classroom from the outside, not knowing what it is and thinking of that stereotypical [class where] everyone should be sitting in their seat…that that’s how kids learn…That’s not my class. My kids are up and moving around. They are doing stuff. They are completely engaged.

I feel like they’ve had a lot of excitement being introduced to things like [robotics].”

Formerly, the computer lab was comprised of several back-to-back rows of desks with computers. Fifth and sixth grade students were required to take electives in the lab that taught them how to use the applications that they would use in class, such as Microsoft Word or Excel. Seventh and eighth graders were offered optional classes in things such as game design and programming.

“For what [the former Middle School

computer program] was teaching, I thought it was good, but it was outdated. I think a lot of [the old program’s material] is taught in classes now and it started to become kind of boring,” said Mr. Myers. “When it was started, it was a great idea, but the program itself was a little outdated.”

The Idea Lab’s innovative design is imperative to the lab.

“I think it frees their minds,” Mr. Myers said about the lab’s design. “It helps the on-edge creative mind push over into creativity.” It is an open classroom where students can freely experiment with engineering equipment. Tools including Legos, robotics tables, arduinos, and a 3D printer fill the workroom; construction tools like saws are kept on the patio. Its clutter tells Mr. Myers that work is being done.

“We felt that traditional computer instruction was too static. It was not teaching kids how to create anything. It was only teaching kids how to use what had already been created by someone else–different types of application,” said Susan Palmer, Head of Middle School.

Seventh and eighth graders have the option to sign up for a variety of electives that take place in the lab. They can choose from courses in prototyping, where students learn how to program electronics, game design, or robotics.

Fifth and sixth graders are each required to take a trimester-long elective in the lab called Exploratory Design. Fifth graders use Lego Mindstorms to construct robots that can move through a specific path, which Mr. Myers describes as being similar to Mars Rovers.

Sixth graders use the 3D printer to design solar powered cell phone chargers.

“The fifth graders coming from fourth grade are just wide open, this is so cool. Students have come in from Upper School, and they are like, ‘Why didn’t we have this?’” said Mr. Myers.

Kids can collaborate without the fear of making mistakes, because every class they take in the Idea Lab is ungraded. In fact,

students’ mistakes help them advance in the class.

“It’s not going in my report card,” joked one fifth grade member of the Middle School robotics team. “I think the best parts are the failures and successes. When it fails, it’s actually funny. Trial and failure.”

Although students’ failures may currently only constitute jokes, these mistakes are what help them advance in the classes. “[The program] is about engineering and problem solving. It is science, it is technology, it is math, but we are seeing that what the kids like so much about it is the freedom it gives them to create solutions based on the challenges and the materials that they have,” said Ms. Palmer.

The capacity for creativity the program offers sets the precedent for future STEM programs at Greenhill. A program of this magnitude requires a name that aptly encompasses the goal.

“We were looking for [a name] that wasn’t too clichéd. ‘STEM’ is kind of that clichéd word right now in education. I wanted it to be a place where kids can come in and create, and I think that the name, the Idea Lab, just kind of fits it,” said Mr. Myers.

Photo by Sudeep Bhargava

SCIENCE AT PLAY: Mr. Myers and MS student (above) work to build a robot in the Idea Lab

wednesday, december 17, 2014

Josh Rudner Staff Writer

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“Off the Grid” Clubs

At Greenhill, “bagel break” means long lines at the Buzz, B-day bagels, meetings with teachers, and of course, clubs.

Upper School students can currently choose from 42 clubs. Many are typical to any high school campus, such as Political Action Club, True Colors, Students Advocating Informed Decision, and Greenhill Business Society.

Others, though, are quirkier and unique: ‘90s Appreciation Club, Electronic Music Club, Game Theory Club, BBC Club, Scrabble Club, Jeep Club, Bollywood Culture & Music Club, and Under the Sea Club, among others.

While some club emails talk about fundraisers and upcoming debates on current events, others are about Kool-Aid, Shahrukh Khan, rap battles, and Jeepfest.

These out-of-the-ordinary emails match the out-of-the-ordinary clubs they represent.

“The quirky clubs are there to allow students to relax and have fun with an activity or topic that they like,” said senior Jordan Jaffee, co-president of Scrabble club, along with sophomores Colin Moran and Zach Rudner.

The club invites a variety of students, some with a knack for vocabulary, others just there to relieve stress.

Students play Scrabble or Bananagrams, a quicker version of the game that is played without a board.

“We don’t play by the rules,” Jordan said. “If someone comes up with something that adds to the fun of the game, then we do it.”

One example is with what

Graphic by Anurag Kurapati

NAVIGATING THE GRID: The puzzle board (above) contrasts “off the grid” clubs like ‘90s Club, Quidditch Club, and Scrabble Club. These student-run organizations combine creativity, passion, and fun.

they call “carrot words.” The words are created each meeting by the officers’ unofficial consensus. If at the end of the round a player has manipulated their tiles to make a “carrot word,” other players are penalized. Words “Jordanjaffeeyar,” and “Monkeytoots” have been debuted thus far.

“They’re neither real words nor gibberish,” Zach said, “It’s casual.”

‘90s Appreciation Club, run by sophomores Rachel Friedman and Richa Sinkre, meets just next door in room 209.

“This is the first year there are people [in the Upper School who] have been born in the 21st century, and we just want to keep the spirit of the ‘90s alive, ” Richa said.

“We can all unite over the ‘90s since that’s when [most of us] were born,” Rachel said.

Throughout the club’s once-a-rotation half-hour meetings, students munch on donuts and sit down to watch ‘90s movies and TV shows, such as Parent Trap, Saved by the Bell,

and America’s Funniest Home Videos.

“Often we just talk about stuff that we grew up with,” said sophomore Megan Freeman, regular ‘90’s club attendee.

Another peculiar club that found its way to the Hill this year is Quidditch Club. Run by Greenhill’s self-proclaimed “resident Quidditch expert,” sophomore Jackson “Dobby” Carroll, this club lets students express their love for the sport that author J.K. Rowling created in her series, Harry Potter.

In the Spotlight...

Andrew Friedman Special Sections Editor

We continue our “In the Spotlight” series, a chance to get to know one randomlyselected Upper School student each issue.

This conversation was with junior Jack Chasanoff.

You might know Jack as The Guy with the Irish Accent from that funny Improv skit, but when Greenhill visited Minglun High School in Taiwan last year, he was City Navigator Extraordinaire.

“No one remembered how to get to the train station, but I [did],” Jack said.

“They followed me.

We got off at Taipei Main Station, walked all over the place and got thank-you cards, but we couldn’t remember how to get back. So I led them back to the school.” Jack is a former denizen of Manhattan’s Upper East Side. He attended the Dalton School for seven years, and after moving from Midtown to the Upper East Side in the fifth grade, began walking to school by himself every morning.

“I felt pretty comfortable with the huge, sprawling city. Some of my friends didn’t,” Jack said. “My sense of direction is pretty good, and I think that’s because I grew up in New York.”

Now that he’s lived in Dallas for four years, Jack prefers not to side with one city.

When asked to choose between the Big D and the Big Apple, the answer is always the same.

“I try and be political, and I say [they] are different. I don’t really have a favorite,” he said.

When asked where he is from, the answer varies.

“When I’m in Texas, I tell people I’m from New York, but if I’m in New York I tell people I’m from Texas,” he said. “It’s more interesting.”

When Jack first visited Greenhill, he said the campus layout made an impression on him.

“

It’s really cool if you’re on a stage and you tell a joke and hundreds of people laugh at your joke.”

“I describe Greenhill to my New York friends [as] my old school cut up into different pieces and spread out,” he said.

Here, Jack is an integral member of the Improv Troupe, though he had no intentions of joining the team when he came to Greenhill.

“I really liked acting, and I had no idea what Improv was. Freshman year, I was

taking Beginning Acting with [Synthia] Rogers, [former Upper School Theater Director] and she said, ‘Are you going to try out for Improv?’ And I said, ‘When are the tryouts?’, and she said, ‘Tomorrow morning.’ and I said, ‘Alright, I guess.’ So I went and tried out and I got a call back and made it. So that was pretty cool,” Jack said.

Jack said he enjoys performing in front of the entire Upper School.

“Everyone likes to make other people laugh. It’s really cool if you’re on a stage and you tell a joke and hundreds of people laugh at your joke. That feels really good,” he said.

Jack is also a returning member of the varsity soccer team and has been playing the sport for nearly a decade.

“I like the game in general. Not just playing it, but watching it as well. I think it’s much more fluid than any other game; it just looks nice on the eyes. When you can repeat what you see on TV, that feels really cool,” he said. “I’ve just played it my whole life.”

Jack enjoys attending FC Dallas and Southern Methodist University soccer games on weekends. His favorite professional team is Manchester United, as evidenced by his Manchester United keychain.

Jack recently attended a sports management summer camp, and plans to major in marketing or business so that he

According to Jackson, most of the time club meetings are spent playing “Muggle Quidditch.”

“It’s different than actual Harry Potter Quidditch,” Jackson said. “You still run around with brooms between your legs, but you aren’t flying.”

Additionally, fantastical objects such as bludgers and the golden snitch are replaced by dodge balls and, “a person dressed up in all yellow [running around] with a tennis ball and a sock.” The club hopes to obtain brooms and other Quidditch equipment soon.

If it’s too cold outside, club members watch videos from the Quidditch World Cup, the championship game between competing teams from the International Quidditch Association’s college league.

“Quidditch is a very entertaining sport,” Jackson said.

Unconventional as it is, the club has serious goals. Though club attendance is currently at around six to ten members, Jackson hopes it will grow until they can have games every other weekend, complete with fans and butter beer sales.

The ultimate goal is having a large enough team to get involved with IQA’s high school league.

But in the meantime, he’s just happy to have bagel break.

“The quirkier clubs aren’t big or official, they’re just a bunch of kids who enjoy something getting together and doing what they love,” Jackson said. “I hope we can promote…adopting our own interests and accepting the fact that yeah, its weird we’re running around with in between our legs but, it’s fun.”

Photo by Ruchita Iyer

JACK THE JOKESTER: Jack poses in his soccer game day formal attire.

can become a general manager for a professional sports team in the future.

He acknowledged that sports management is a tough industry, but with his big city experience by his side, it won’t be too tough for him to navigate the field.

Sports the

Varun Gupta

See p. 18 for more on Greenhill’s star swimmer WT Greer.

No Timeouts for College Athletes

Features Editor

Zoe Allen Staff Writer

A recruited high schooler’s athletic career builds up to Signing Day. The lecture hall is packed with relatives, friends, faculty and strangers who watch a star athlete sit at the desk, clad in sports gear from the college to which they’re about to commit. The entire room buzzes with anticipation, and everyone feels both elation and sadness: happiness for the success the athlete will have after a career at Greenhill, but sadness at the player’s departure. Almost no one can imagine the amount of time and devotion athletes give to their college athletics program once they leave Greenhill.

Signing the letter of intent makes the athlete’s decision final, but does not guarantee a starting position on the team.

“In our school, you don’t get gear unless you pass the fitness test,” said Blake Pruitt ’12, a junior and women’s soccer player for the University of Arkansas. “It was really nerve racking as a freshman.

You can’t really prepare for one.”

Greenhill athletes compete against other private schools in the Southern Preparatory Conference (SPC), but college athletes face teams ranked first in the nation. Since every athlete is held up to higher expectations, students must adjust to a more competitive atmosphere.

“I was really excited to be on the team, but also really nervous because there were several [2012 London] Olympians on the team and it was really surreal to be swimming with [them]. I was a little bit nervous about keeping up, but it was totally fine,” said Texas A&M junior Claire Brandt ‘12.

To prepare for playing at a college level, alums advise students to play at the club level during high school.

“If I had just swum for Greenhill, I would have been surprised.

At least for swimming, there is a huge gap for the level of intensity between Greenhill and A&M.” Hannah Orth ‘12, a junior and women’s basketball player at Rhodes, has seen many parallels but also many differences between Greenhill’s athletics and collegiate athletics.

“Greenhill is like the Division Three of high schools,” said Hannah.

For her sophomore year, Hannah transferred to play for Rhodes, a Division III school, on a meritbased scholarship.

“I think the game is a little faster in college and that was the hardest part to adjust to,” Hannah said. “It didn’t mean that I wasn’t prepared or was overwhelmed; it just meant that it was a different type of game that I had to get used to.”

Blake has completed her third season on the University of Arkansas women’s soccer team and has experienced the NCAA Tournament, innumerable games, and grueling practices. Blake said the high school to college adjustment was big.

“Athletes were bigger, stronger, faster in the SEC conference. It was so different,” said Blake. Moreover, Blake said she had to start lifting weights in college and to commit her body to a more demanding workout schedule. During the fall, she practices four days a week and plays in two games on Fridays and Sundays.

According to Blake, her soccer team has employed the motto “Earn your trident” to motivate

athletes to contribute relentless effort on the field.

“Our team isn’t based around talent, but hard work all the time,” Blake said.”It really comes down to one practice and one run.”

Not only does every athlete undergo grueling practices, but they must also find the right balance between their athletic, academics, and social lives.

“Hopefully when you’re playing at the college level, then it’s a sport you really care about,” Hannah. “My coach wants me to put academics first and the teachers have that same expectation. It’s not possible for me to not get homework done because I don’t have Internet access [while traveling].”

Athletes simply have to make time.

“It’s making sure you’re in the library during your free time, and getting work done so you can free up your weekends,” Hannah said.

The stakes of not showing up at practice or losing a game are at a high in college.

“Soccer in college is a job, more like a business. This is my way of paying [my way] through college and my coach constantly recruits athletes that are ready to replace you,” Blake said.

Not only is the rigor of the sport at a whole new level, but also the fan support helps athletes thrive in a competitive atmosphere.

“It’s crazy. There are not any other professional sports in Arkansas. I can’t even explain it. We would have thousands of fans, sign autographs for a bunch of little kids, and see parents tailgate before games. All that support really helps,” Blake said.

Another support system for Blake is her team.

According to her, living with

verse community, Greenhill School, one of the nation’s leading private schools, is the place for you.” Now more attentive, you listen. “With [almost] 50 percent students of color, we are committed to

educating our students in an inclusive environment. Join us for our high-school admissions preview.”

The voice belongs to Tom Williams, varsity football coach and Director of Greenhill Sports Center.

The opportunity to promote Greenhill on the radio came from a Greenhill family connection.

“We are a diverse community of learners, so every year we come together and make a plan to do outreach about Greenhill. A Greenhill family came to us with the offer to do some advertising on the radio,” said Kerry Shea, Director of Marketing and Communication.

Coach Williams developed the idea with Head of School Scott Griggs, Karen Bradberry, Director of Equity and Inclusion, and Ms. Shea.

“It was a collective idea of the administration. It was promoting Greenhill as a primary private school with a diverse and worldclass community,” Coach Williams said.

The broadcast invited people to come visit Greenhill.

COURAGEOUS COMMITMENTS: (clockwise from top) Blake Pruitt ‘12 (Arkansas), Hannah Orth ‘12 (Rhodes College), and Claire Brandt ‘12 (Texas A&M) have all made sacrifices to compete for their schools.

soccer girls keeps the team accountable for getting work done and going to practice on time.

“I have people with me around the clock,” Blake said.

These collegiate athletes have all contemplated quitting because of how much time and energy their sport requires. But, at the end of the day, they know they could never give up something so important to them.

“I sacrifice my body, social life and my sleep. I know that I love it, or I wouldn’t still be playing,” Blake said.

Alums have experienced emotionally upsetting setbacks

and heart-warming achievements through their sports career. They’re in a position to inform younger generations.

“My advice would be to play confidently and work [beyond the expected] work ethic. So they know that you’re putting in the extra work outside of your sport,” Hannah said.

When it comes down to contending, college athletes use personal motivations to propel them to their goal.

“I’m a very competitive person. It’s just a lot about touching the wall before the other person,” Blake said.

Radio spot seeks to draw diverse applicants to Greenhill Kathie Rojas Staff Writer

The old soul song on 94.5 fades out, replaced by commercial broadcasts.

“If you want a first-rate education for your child in a di-

Photo courtesy of Kerry Shea

RADIO READY: Coach Tom Williams preparing to promote Greenhill on R&B and hip-hop stations 94.5 FM and 97.9 FM. The school hopes that the advertisement will be able to attract a diverse group of applicants.

“The main point was to get people to experience it, [however, in order] to really experience it, you have to see it and come and actually be on the campus,” said Ms. Shea.

It was not Coach William’s first time speaking on the radio.

Ms. Shea knew he was perfect for the job.

“He has such a great voice,” Ms. Shea said.

The broadcast was played multiple times the week prior to the admissions preview on 94.5 FM and 97.9 FM, R&B and hip-hop stations that draw a diverse urban listenership. Ms. Shea speculated that it did have an impact on the turnout for the event.

One of Greenhill’s main goals is a diverse student body. According to Dr. Bradberry, this is not the first time Greenhill has used radio and print media to publicize the opportunities available at Greenhill. In the past, the school has done radio spots on Spanishspeaking radio stations to target Latino students.

“It speaks a lot about Green-

hill to be so devoted to gaining a diverse community. We intended to reach people who have misconceived notions about private school,” Dr. Bradberry said.

For example, the perception that private-school students are all white and privileged.

“At Greenhill, we are scholars and true scholarship demands diversity of thought. It is rooted in having diverse voices to grow from and learn from,” Dr. Bradberry said.

“I think you’re gifted with a level of trust about the sincerity of your equity and inclusion when you are specifically targeting audiences. Since the Greenhill community is as diverse as it is, we hit barriers. We are still working on the inclusion part,” Dr. Bradberry said.

Coach Williams, also a Greenhill parent, said he was happy to do the job.

“I have a lot of pleasant feelings about Greenhill. It fills you with pride when you are speaking truthfully about such a great school,” Coach Williams said.

wednesday, december 17, 2014

the

Evergreen

sports

17

Photos by Ariana Zhang

EAT, READ, LEAD: Chad Wabrek holds himself to the same standards as student-athletes, striving to uphold his motto of relentless effort, better known as #RE, in his daily activities.

#RElentless Roots

Head of Athletics takes his sports mantra to heart Sofia Shirley Executive Editor

Radhe Melwani Staff Writer

Chad Wabrek, Head of Athletics and Physical Education, tells us to “Live Green Love Gold.” You may see his #RE tweets and think, “Wow, he sure has that hornet passion and pride.”

You have no idea. Coach Wabrek doesn’t speak of relentless effort; he bleeds it.

When Coach Wabrek came to Greenhill last year, he instated “relentless effort” as the motto of the Athletic Department. Since then, “#RE” has become a buzzword of sports at Greenhill.

“The only reason I’ve gotten where I am today is because whatever I’ve decided to do I’ve decided to do with a lot of effort.

Relentless is sort of who I am,” Coach Wabrek said.

For Coach Wabrek, a good night’s sleep is six hours. Even after late nights, he’s up at 5:30 a.m. to get his day started.

“I’m a little bit of that ‘no need to sleep that much [type],’ because I think there’s not enough hours in the day to do what you gotta do and you only live once. A lot of the time that I’m not sleeping is spent pondering, thinking, planning and executing how to do things better,” he said.

Ultimately, Coach Wabrek has two modes: on and off.

“I’m either asleep or I’m awake. There’s no in-between.”

When he’s awake, he’s moving, we discovered. It was a tough task to keep up with his long strides on campus, and in our interview, he spoke a mile a minute, words

about relentless effort practically jumping out of his mouth. We left with seven pages of notes and no doubt as to where the article was headed.

“I want to do things with the greatest effort I can. Not just this week, not just next week, but all the time.”

Coach Wabrek has no bucket list of dreams for the future. He puts his plans into action as quickly as possible.

“I feel like if there’s something I really want to do then I should go do it,” he said.

“Let’s figure out a way to do it.”

This was evident as he told us the story of his wedding. He and his wife wanted to get married shortly after he proposed. His father-in-law dressed up as Santa Claus and married them in his home on New Year’s Eve 2004, while their kids, decked out in pajamas, looked on.

Although Coach Wabrek was a college athlete and later a sports coach, he received his Masters in English from Middlebury College and was an English teacher for the majority of his career. He wants his message of relentless effort to be applicable to everyone, not only the star athletes.

In fact, Coach Wabrek credits his Middle School English class as the root of his relentless mentality.

“The first time I noticed that effort made a difference was, oddly enough, in my English class in Middle School, when our teachers would give us the option to draft our papers as opposed to just turning in one draft. It was when I made a decision to do it more than once that it hit home,” he said.

Ever since then, effort has been his mantra. As an English major, he said it

would take him two to three hours to write an English paper that would take other students only one.

“I was an overachiever. I was the student who tried hard at things and didn’t always get the success that I wanted. I have always had a bit of an underdog personality. I’m not going to let a lack of effort stop me,” he said.

Coach Wabrek likes order.

“I’m a planner. I went to a boarding school. Got up, had breakfast, had class. I’m used to that.”

Before we began our interview, he walked (briskly, of course) to the gym’s snack bar for a Rice Krispies treat, which he eats everyday at 2:45 p.m.

Nothing he does is unintentional, from wearing green pants on big game days to sending emails with his signature closing, reminding us to live with “hornet passion and pride.”

Planning every aspect of Greenhill Athletics is practically an all-consuming job, one that does not end with the school day.

“I use my workday to meet and be with people, and I use my non-work time to get additional things done. At nighttime I tend to think more about the big-picture stuff,” he said.

When Coach Wabrek attends a sports game, he’s watching it not only as a fan, but also from the perspective of Head of Athletics. When he’s reading, he’s reading a biography, typically of a sports coach, to further understand people and what makes them tick. Even his Twitter is a blend of Greenhill athletic news, inspirational sports quotes and articles from Harvard Biz about motivation in everyday life.

He spreads this mentality around his household and frequently converses with his three kids about effort. He approximated a typical conversation with his kids for us. “‘Hey, did you give a lot of effort today?’ and they’ll be like, ‘Dad, once again, yes I did.’ And I’ll be like, ‘Really? ’Cause I was thinking about asking your coach.’ ‘Oh, don’t do that!’”

His oldest son, Asher, is a junior at the Episcopal School of Dallas and is very familiar with his dad’s mantra.

“I definitely heard it my whole life. He’s always talked about the results and said that effort is a main component that determines 100 percent success in anything that you do.

He just preaches effort, every conversation we have,” Asher said.

Coach Wabrek is aware that he embodies relentless effort to the Greenhill community.

“People need to see me living it. It’s my job to hold up our end of the bargain. I want it to be perceived at least that way.”

And he’s conscious of the power of communication.

“I try to use these gimmicky #RE, sometimes I’ll throw in some funny phrases.

I want them to say, ‘Mr. Wabrek certainly has a lot of energy. He seems to like the school a lot with his green pants.’”

So yes, Coach Wabrek is the incarnation of relentless effort. It’s simply who he is.

However, his biggest goal is for the mantra to not simply be synonymous with him, but to become “part of the fabric of the community,” to essentially transcend him, he said.

“I would hope that if I decided to retire, that this would become who we are.”

18 sports

the

Evergreen

wednesday, december 17, 2014

Swim Against the Current

Suman Chebrolu Asst. News Editor

They say that success comes from the path taken, not the end destination. For Senior WT Greer, that couldn’t be truer. WT is co-captain of boys varsity swimming, holds two school records, and as of Dec. 3, came .06 seconds away from breaking another record.

“I’ve been through thick and thin, hell and back for swimming,” WT said.

He first started swimming at age ten.

Before, he did taekwondo.

WT started going to meets for his club team after about a year and a half of swimming. Prior to competing, he just wanted to enjoy the sport and get into shape.

“The reason for why I was swimming was the fact that I enjoyed it, not necessarily because I wanted to win anything,” WT said. “ I was also searching for something to keep me in shape [because] at the time I was overweight.”

Team dynamics play a major role in why he loves the sport, especially Greenhill’s team.

“He has been a great cheer leader,” said Jim Montgomery, varsity swimming coach.

“He has really supported everyone on the team, down to the freshmen that are just starting out.”

His teammates appreciate him.

“He’s really supportive,” said sophomore Lexi Gachman. “He’s telling us things we could do better and he always cares about us and our health and making sure that we are all fit and ready to race and do our best.

By the numbers Ben Krakow Online Editor

They roam the field. One moves up to join the attack while another controls the middle and the third stays back to direct the defense. The three midfielders in the boys soccer formation do this without speaking or gesturing, they are so in tune with each other. It comes naturally. Senior Daniel Spomer and junior Orion Marty, co-captains, make up twothirds of the starting midfield for the team.

Midfielders play a vital position. They balance a mixture of offense and defense and control the tempo of the game. Midfielders run more than anyone on the field.

“The midfielders are the most important players on the field. They determine how fast we play,” said junior Bradley Aptilon, an outside back for the team.

When midfielders get the ball, they decide whether to push the ball up the field or send it back to the defense or goalie in order to set up an organized attack.

Another responsibility of the midfielders is to be vocal leaders on the field.

Players said it is no surprise

He high-fives you after a race no matter how good or bad you did.”

His journey to success brought him through many challenges.

For him, the answer to winning was to focus on technique, which he did for his club team.

“Three things matter according to race pace. The first and most important thing, which makes the most difference is technique. Mental [focus] is the second. Conditioning is the third,” WT said.

The traditional way school teams practice is in reverse: they emphasize conditioning over technique. According to WT, they focus on getting into shape for the race, with the thought that strength can replace technique.

About seven months ago, his shoulder started hurting from swimming long distances. He changed his training style to focus on high-intensity, short-distance swims that take pressure off his shoulders.

WT and his mother found an online manual with this type of workout regimen. With the manual as their only guide, they went to the pool, attempting to do the workout independently of any coach or club guidance. Coach Montgomery wanted to assist WT, but his ability to help was hindered by limited lanes at the pool and unfamiliarity with the workout. Within three months of starting the training, WT started noticing differences.

This workout regimen focuses on technique, but is dually built on learning from

The number of goals by sophomore Rheagan Smith against Trinity Valley School en route to a 5-0 victory on Dec. 2. As of Dec. 11, the team boast a 4-0-0 overall record including three wins over SPC schools.

4

Photo courtesy of ATAC

MAKING WAVES: Senior WT Greer, a captain and two-time all-SPC honoree, holds two school records and is closing in on a third. He intends to swim in college next year.

failure. For example, a swimmer’s goal time for a 100-meter freestyle is 45 seconds. After calculating each dive and turn, each of the four 25-meter laps (the length of a pool) should be approximately 11.4 seconds. If one of the sprints is half a second slower, the swimmer must stop the workout, even if it is the first one. This reduces the amount of faulty muscle memory and muscle soreness that would make proceeding workouts even worse.

Trying an untested workout alone was not a simple choice for WT. “It was a straight-up leap of faith, because I was the only one doing it and all I had heard was stories of people [who have used the workout] who had done well,” WT said. “I was literally risking everything that I worked for at the chance to be faster. It’s part of the adventure. I don’t regret it at all, even if it didn’t drop time.”

Coach Montgomery agreed. “[Doing the workout has] been a real

9

The margin of victory for the boys soccer team over Prince of Peace Christian School on Nov. 18. As of Dec. 11, the team holds a 5-0-1 record with a total of 24 goals.

Manning the Midfield

that the midfielders are also the team’s captains because they are the only players on the field that can be heard by everyone else on the field.

“They are very capable and

read how they are responding to situations,” said Greg Krauss, Greenhill head varsity soccer coach.

Orion and Daniel’s relationship started in Orion’s freshman year,

challenge of swimming on his own, but it’s starting to show some really great results,” Coach Montgomery said.

WT remembers suggesting swimming as a winter sports option to another classmate. The student retorted that he was not any good at it. WT could not see why that mattered. “[Growing] up, I was not the fastest kid, being overweight. Being heavy is kind of hard in swimming,” WT said. “But when that kid told me, ‘You’re fast, you’re good at it,’ I said that I wasn’t always fast. I didn’t really start winning [competitions] until I got to Greenhill.”

In the future, WT hopes to swim for a college team. He wants to know what it will be like to be on a close-knit and competitive team. “[Swimming] means more in college,” WT said. “You are around the team all the time. It’s the way of life, and that’s something I really want.”

The 50-meter freestyle time of senior WT Greer at the Greenhill swim meet against Jesuit Prepartory School on Dec. 3.

WT already holds two school records and was .06 seconds off his third.

22.68

’14. They were once again chosen as captains this season. Quickly, the two became fixtures in the midfield, though they both say their chemistry did not immediately develop. They both agree they had trouble at times communicating about who would join the attack while the other stayed back on defense.

“Coach Krauss talked to us about it, and we had a lot of conversations between the two of us about it. I think the chemistry between us has improved a lot,” Daniel said.

Players said that Daniel is the more vocal leader while Orion often chooses to lead by example, though both of them talk to the team when they feel it is important to focus.

Daniel describes himself as someone who is quiet in the Photo by Hanna Arata classroom, but turns vocal on PURPOSEFUL PLAYING: Sophomore Chris Quintero, senior Daniel the playing field. He said he Spomer, and junior Orion Marty (not pictured) comprise of the starting thinks Orion might become more midfielders for the varsity soccer team. Much of the team’s success is vocal next year after he graduates. dependent on the ability of the midfielders to develop chemistry.

“I think it is really important in soccer to have a strong voice on intelligent. They have a very good when they both played varsity. In the field. Brent was a great leader feel for the game and they naturally their second year playing together, and captain on the field, and now set the tone. I think a lot of the Coach Krauss named both of them that he is gone, I think I have other players respond to that and captains along with Brent Rubin stepped up as a leader on the field,

and I am sure Orion will step up next year,” Daniel said.

Orion and Daniel both played on different club soccer teams growing up. They both said the more they saw the other play, the more admiration they had for one another.

“We have been friends through soccer. We are really compatible, we click when we are playing together,” Daniel said.

Coach Krauss said that Daniel, Orion and sophomore Chris Quintero should compete for the duration of counter-games, but there are several quality players that can step in if needed. Rotating players said they are not worried.

“It can be difficult warming up in the middle of the game, but once you are out on the field, it feels really normal and I am in-sync with the other guys,” said junior Ryan Diebner, one of the rotating midfielders.

The midfielders say they enjoy the challenge of playing in their position.

“I have played midfield my whole life. I like how you get to run and control the team both offensively and defensively,” Orion said.

wednesday, december 17, 2014

the

Evergreen

Andrew from Starbucks

afterwords

19

Whenever I clock-in to my shift at Starbucks, I dread making one guy’s drink.

He is known as “Andy,” and he orders a venti, nonfat, upside-down caramel macchiato with whip, no foam, and extra caramel drizzle, steamed at 140°F. I remember making it for

him exactly right, except that I steamed his milk a few degrees off temperature. I handed him the drink anyway, hoping he wouldn’t notice. To my horror, his face wrinkled in disgust after taking his first sip; he stomped back to the counter. “You made this drink much too hot! This is clearly not 140°F!” “I’m really sorry, I’ll remake it for you,” I said. A sigh emanated from the waiting customers as I re-marked the cup and began steaming Andy’s milk, eyes glued to the blue temperature readout as it increased ever so slowly: “99…102…106…”

I thought it would be a breeze when I started this job in August. I was wrong. In addition to making uber-specific drinks, I lift twenty-pound boxes of “Sugar in the Raw,” scrub the grime-covered floor mats, struggle

to enunciate, “Would you like your receipt?” and receive the occasional “I’m offended” stare when a customer sees his or her name horribly misspelled. (Sidenote: Customers, we don’t try to screw up your names, they’re usually just hard to spell. An example: Tipu.)

After two-and-a-half months, I’ve concluded that working at Starbucks is hard—way harder than I once thought. But despite its difficulties, I appreciate my job because it has done some amazing things for me.

By working on Sundays, I have reconnected with dozens of friends from Plano with whom I had fallen out of touch after transferring to Greenhill; I recognize them while I’m taking their order (or spelling their name incorrectly). It has also made me into a Twitter celebrity after Harris

Chowdharry tweeted a picture of me at work.

(It now has over a hundred favorites.)

But most of all, Starbucks has given me something to look forward to after a long and stressful week. In school, I have loads of work to complete every night, whether it be an AP set or biology reading. The reward for my effort can seem so far away I have to squint to see it. At Starbucks, the payoff is immediate; I can see the smile on customers’ faces after I serve them a great drink.

Work gives me a sense accomplishment.

Sometimes I lie awake at night, estimating the amount of time it will take to complete my English reading. Eventually, I drift off to sleep with thoughts of putting the perfect dome of whipped cream on a Frappuccino.

There I was, wielding the Excaliburs of engineering: the screwdriver and hammer.

Pint-sized me, no more than four, gazing wonderingly into the DVD player – it was more than a device: it was a challenge saying, “Open me and explore.” So I did. I unscrewed and hammered until all was revealed. Then the pieces whispered, “Bet you can’t put me back.” So away I went. Little did I know I was delving into the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics

(STEM) field as I ventured from object to object and explored how and why things worked.

There’s a problem that few may know about but even fewer talk about: the lack of African-Americans in engineering and science-oriented fields. According to data Google released about its employees, African-Americans account for a paltry two percent of their workforce, with even fewer holding leadership positions.

How can we expect to be an advancing nation with these numbers in Silicon Valley and elsewhere?

I worry that society, even at Greenhill, is becoming complacent with a dangerous cycle: fewer and fewer of we AfricanAmericans are exploring STEM because we don’t see similar, diverse faces in this field.

This scarcity makes it easier for many of us to become demoralized once we see our first problem set, surrendering without adequate motivation and realizing that there is no

clear path for us in the workforce anyways, thereby perpetuating the cycle.

I awakened to this issue in ninth grade.

As a math team member, I traveled to the University of North Texas one November morning to participate in a tournament.

As I walked into the foyer to register, my eyes scanned the crowd. I’m the only one.

Not only were there few African-Americans, but also few Hispanics and females. A strange mixture of confusion, ambition, and anger fomented. I wanted even more to crush the competition. Yet, there was something demoralizing about the picture.

I had to take a long, introspective look in the mirror, understanding that this shock is what causes many to capitulate. Improving the numbers will increase the interest and decrease demoralization–that is the only cure, I thought.

I tested my hypothesis the following summer. At a University of Texas at Dallas

summer programming class, I found myself in a familiar situation: a few sprinkles here, a smattering there, but no significant number of African-Americans, Hispanics, or females.

After the first day, I decided to text one of my friends to join the class. I knew we shared similar interest, but I also knew that eight out of 80 was unacceptable.

Immediately, I felt a change as we started to spread the word and our numbers in the class increased twofold. We all felt more confident, more valuable, and more interested in what we were learning.

Civil Rights Activist Jesse Jackson was on to something when he spoke in Silicon Valley and said, “The next battleground in America is ensuring opportunities for minorities and women in STEM.” It takes a concerted effort from kids and adults to ensure that everyone has access and has the potential to be successful in whatever field they choose.

They call me Sera Tuz on Sound. But to be honest, I know very little about sound. In fact, I had no idea what I was doing in the booth until last week.

So, you’ve only heard musicals for the last four years because I got lucky.

A week before Thanksgiving break, Mr. Orman, our technical director, asked me to come to his office. Even though I go there all the time for a quiet place to work (or watch Netflix), I had a bad feeling. Suddenly, The

Live Sound Manual was plopped on my lap.

“250 pages and no pictures,” he said gruffly. I laughed a little to see if this one of his jokes.

It was not. While the book title did have the word “manual” in it and I didn’t have much time on my hands, I still felt excited. I would finally understand sound.

Post-Thanksgiving break, Mr. Orman asked if I’d finished reading. I hadn’t. My tinge of excitement was stifled by college apps, AP sets and most importantly, apple pie. “I read the parts that matter!” I defended.

Mr. Orman quizzed me. “What makes us get feedback?” he started. When I answered with a blank stare, he decided to just explain it all himself. So in an hour, I learned the sound circuit. Microphone...Snake...Mixer...

Effects-rack...Mixer...Amp-rack...Speaker...

Audience. If I’d known that four years ago, the entire audience’s ears may not have split in the finale of Once Upon a Mattress.

I’ve made my fair share of mistakes.

About an hour before the Avenue Q dress

rehearsal, I realized I replaced all the mike batteries with used ones, so nobody’s mikes worked. Oops. Or last year, we started tallying how many times the light designer and I messed up during the show. He got one tally mark. I got 20. Oops. Because I did not understand how sound worked, I had absolutely no knowledge of how to troubleshoot. To cope, I’d mess around with some cables, and hope that I wouldn’t blow one of the speakers up. (Luckily, this has not been an “oops.” Yet.) I signed up for Musical Technical Crew my freshman year because it was fun. Unlike all my other classes, I didn’t take tech very seriously and only understood the bare minimum about sound (sound designer was thrown at me on day one of second trimester back in 2011). Tech is the one thing I’ve done in high school simply because I enjoy it. In the hallways, I am serious—thinking about what I need for my next class, who I need to email about Evergreen. But in the

theater, I am loud and obnoxious. Earlier this trimester, I flat-out refused to work one day because I didn’t want to rip a hole in my tights. I don’t take everything and myself so seriously there.

Before I was Sera Tuz on Sound (a name that stuck after an offhand comment my sophomore year), I was just Sera, a girl who loved producing musicals with an odd but dedicated group. I’ve had some of my funniest, hardest and scariest moments in the blackbox. Like when Mick Reily ’13 terrorized me on the shop staircase decked out in a Grim Reaper costume. I screamed; we both fell the rest of the way down.

I’m not a perfect techie. I have infinite tallies for my mistakes, but I don’t mind. For two hours after school every other day, we build, laugh, mess up, build again and are okay with imperfections. Mistakes are bound to happen, but I learned to have fun while making them in a place that I love. No 250page manual could have taught me that.

I faced the class that would be the bane of my existence: AP Chemistry. I enrolled believing it would be a stepping stone in my science career. Instead, I experienced an identity crisis that broke down everything I had built in my mind about who I was. That class subjected Mr. Bittenbender to excessive amounts of my tearful blubbering, and made me question my choice to pursue science. I was pretty good at it. However, there was no passion, no sense of love or accomplishment.

Even so, I still felt obligated to pursue perfection and a career in science. AP Chemistry was something that I felt I had to do, not something that I wanted for myself.

I’m not sure why I felt so compelled to live up to the Chinese-American stereotype.

Unlike many first generation immigrats, my parents never pushed me to become a doctor or an engineer. They never pressured me to get straight A’s, take more AP classes, or to get into Harvard, Yale, and Columbia;

instead, my parents pushed me to do my best in school, to get more sleep, and to do what made me happy. But by far, the strangest thing about my Asian parents was that they pressured me to go into art and design.

While I’d been trained in art from a young age, I actively avoided it as a career path due to the stigma that it carries in the Asian-American community. “Being an artist isn’t a real job!” “You know, doctors make ten times as much money as artists do.” But after my fallout with AP Chemistry, I didn’t know what else to do. Art was something that I genuinely enjoyed. I’d been so caught up with trying to be a “Good Asian” that I lost sight of my own happiness and individual talents.

Last spring, I finally silenced the voices of Asian expectations. I got rid of the unrealistic pressures that I put on myself, and decided to do what I wanted.

I started a photography business, traveled

to London with National Geographic, and went places that I never imagined. I’m attending a college for art and design next year and couldn’t be happier. I found a path to success that didn’t mean interning in a lab or doing my own research like I originally planned. I found passion that I never had when I was trying to pursue science.

Nothing’s changed about being an artist.

I’m not going to make as much money as my peers. Most of the Asian population won’t consider my career “a real job.” I’m going to be doodling and playing around in clay while my peers are taking pre-med and advanced physics courses. The art field hasn’t become any more lucrative or appreciated.

Most people still think that going into art as a profession is a ridiculous and idealistic concept. And maybe they’re right. But in fifteen years, if I’m dirt poor and making art in an old shack, at least I’ll be happy while doing it.

Lets Create a New Face for STEM

Sera Tuz on Sound

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Artist

I’ve been a stereotypical Chinese kid almost my entire life. I played multiple instruments, had a natural talent for math and science, and was okay studying through the weekend. Getting a B on a math test was practically failing and a sure sign that I would end up attending a second-tier college (the horror!). To achieve my goal of becoming a biomedical engineer, I had to be perfect.

Everything was going to plan, until

20 backpage

the

Evergreen

wednesday, december 17, 2014

TV as your Tutor Don’t feel guilty about binging on these television shows this winter break. They’ll help you with your classes as well!

Sociology | The Nanny

Government | House of Cards

Economics | Shark Tank

6 seasons | 52.8 hours | 2 days of watching

2 seasons | 22.05 hours | 1 day of watching

6 seasons | 77.25 hours | 3 days of watching

If sociology is the study of society, no one is more qualified to teach you than Fran Fine. The series follows flamboyant Queens-native Fran, a “29” year-old woman who beguiles her way into becoming a nanny at the Sheffield mansion. The focus of the show is Fran’s relationship with the three privileged Sheffield kids and the romantic tension between her and their widowed father. A fun, lighthearted watch, The Nanny will leave you in fits of laughter. Although at first glance that’s all the show appears to be, it will surprise you when it tackles societal issues from sociology class such as class, privilege, and stereotypes. Oh, and ‘90s pop culture.

Get ahead in Government by watching House of Cards.

This show follows Frank Underwood, a Democrat from South Carolina’s fifth congressional district and House Majority Whip. A tale about power and ambition, the show will make you question everything you know about American government. It also provides the inside scoop on campaign logistics, the inner workings of the Senate (including senate positions and senate committees), the system of checks and balances, and the role of media in government. Be the first to pose ethical questions in your Government class and impress your peers and teachers.

Master Economics by watching Shark Tank. This reality show features a board of business tycoons, or “sharks,” that listen to business proposals from budding entrepreneurs. If they’re impressed, they’ll invest up to $2 million in the business. Economics teacher David Lowen has even admitted to referencing the show in his class. From pitching a successful proposal to learning what it takes to make it in the cut-throat business world, Shark Tank will leave you feeling like a boss (literally). Not to mention it features Dallas’ Mark Cuban.

Gothic Literature | Vampire Diaries

AX10 | Downton Abbey

Chemistry | Breaking Bad

6 seasons | 82.7 hours | 3.5 days of watching

4 seasons | 31.133 hours | 1.25 days of watching

5 seasons | 42.5 hours | 1.75 days of watching

Kill it in Gothic Literature by watching the Vampire Diaries. The show follows vampire brothers Stefan and Damon and their infatuation with human Elena who resembles a girl from their past. Like the best gothic heroes, watch these characters struggle making choices between passion and reason (like choosing between protecting your vampire daughter or your town). Gothic Literature class explores dark romanticism, human fallibility, and the supernatural, all of which are covered extensively in the show.

Make history come alive by watching Downton Abbey. The show revolves around the elite Crawley family and their servants. The Titanic has sunk with the heir to the Crawley’s estate allegedly on board. The household struggles to adjust to life with the newfound heir; a country lawyer. You will find yourself loving every second of this enthralling, upstairs-downstairs drama. Best of all, it will give you background on the World War I era in Britain, the Spanish influenza epidemic, the Marconi scandal, Ireland’s struggle for independence, and the social hierarchy of British society, all of which can help you in the history pod.

Cook up some chemistry with Breaking Bad. The show features chemistry teacher, Walter White. When he is diagnosed with cancer, he turns to selling drugs in a desperate attempt to provide financial security for his family. You will learn about fulminated mercury, the table of elements, and how batteries are made—perfect for your chemistry classes. The show is sure to be mAg-Ni-Fe-cent for your understanding of chemistry.

Story by Zayna Syed Graphics by Anusha Kurapati