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Hopkins Summer
September 7, 2018
Hopkins Hosts Summer Academic Programs Although some students took classes over the summer, others taught their own classes in the Summer Pathfinder program held at Hopkins. The purpose of the Although many students used their time off for Pathfinder summer school is to prepare students from traveling, eating, and sleeping, some kids found themselves New Haven public schools to apply to independent high on Hopkins campus during their summer vacation. Along schools. Robert Toulange ’20, who was once a Pathfinder with the Havre Soccer Camp, Squash Camp and Pathfinder, student himself and is now a teacher, has been involved Hopkins School hosted a total of seventeen academic sumin the program for four years. Toulange described what it mer courses for grades seven through twelve this past sumwas like taking on a teaching role in the classroom: “I was mer. These programs were available to all students who were really excited to become a teacher. It was my first time looking to explore new courses during the summer. taking this role and I quickly found out that it took Several rising eleventh graders attended the a lot of preparation, patience, and responsibility.” Comprehensive SAT Review Course to prepare for the Julia Tellides ’20 shared her enthusiasm for the inupcoming year. This three week program was open to tensive five week program: “I really enjoyed working sophomores through seniors. During this time, stuwith the kids. They were so much fun to be around dents were able to prepare for both the Math and Verand they were hilarious.”Although the responsibilibal sections of “the scary exam known as the SAT,” as ties for the two new teachers grew, both Tellides and stated by Madelena Kombo ’20. She emphasized that Toulange found that getting to know the students “through practice tests, videos, review and conversawas far more rewarding. After spending many hours tion,” they were able to “learn different techniques a day with their students, “growing close to the kids to properly conquer the not-so-daunting exam.” became rather easy.” Toulange reflected on his time Along with the SAT prep course, Hopkins teaching in Pathfinder: “The program exceeded all offered academic courses, most popular of which were my expectations. Not only did I have an upper hand Atlantic Communities II and III. During this time, the but I learned what it meant to work hard, as a student normal half-year ACIII class and full-year ACII class and as a teacher. I also built many relationships with were condensed into intensive 6-week courses. For At the end of the summer, Pathfinder parents attended a "Share Fair" high- teachers and students that I still have to this day.” lighting the student work in Mike Calderone's Theater class. Katherine Takoudes ’20 and William Randazzo ’20, Katherine Takoudes reflected on her time on ACIII was their first summer course at Hopkins. Like Randazzo, Takoudes, and Smyth all emphasized that the The Hill this summer: "Although summer school was Takoudes and Randazzo, many rising sophomores and ju- “engaging teaching style,” the fun class environment, and an intense six weeks of studying, I still managed to have niors opt to take the summer history course with the plans the “fascinating topics and time period” of the curriculum some fun this summer and I look forward to junior year." of filling out their history requirement during summer, made the ACIII summer course feel “a lot less like school.” Zoe Kim '20 Assistant News Editor
allowing them to double up on other classes during the academic year. Owen Smyth ’20 described how a condensed course can be beneficial: “Being able to tackle entire units within the span of a day or two was incredibly helpful to [my] comprehension.” Although all three rising juniors found the homework to be “a little much at times,” including thirty plus pages of Give Me Liberty reading a night, all three students praised ACIII teacher David DeNaples for engaging them in class and making the course “feel alive and extremely relevant to today’s society.”
Concert Choir Tours Spain and Portugal
cert Choir, some students who joined Tour Choir did not sing with the choir during the school year. Connor Hartigan ’19 said, “As someone who doesn’t Five days after summer break began, students do Concert Choir year-round, I thought I might be in the Hopkins Tour Choir convened to leave for their a bit of an outsider, but the regulars took us eight trip to Portugal and Spain from June 11 to June 20. newbies in, and treated us like full comrades.” Hartigan reflected on how the choir adjusted There, they performed with local choirs across the two countries while exploring cities in between concerts. The to singing as an unfamiliar group: “Our first concert, Tour Choir goes on a trip every other year and includes in Lisbon, was done well, but there were a few spots students from rising freshmen to graduating seniors. where our sound could have been more coherent. By While the list of songs performed in each con- the time of our fourth concert, in Granada, we had cert varied, the choir came with ten songs prepared. fixed all of that and we had a unified, soaring sound.” The choir The Tour Choir also bonded and practiced pieces to improved their sing with the host synergy by choirs of each conspending time cert. One of the fatogether outside vorite songs of the of concerts. The group was an Irish choir spent days folk song, “Loch together tourLomond”. Meggie ing cities, eating Czepiel ’20 loved dinners, riding singing it “beon the tour bus, cause the nostalgic and performing tone works so well in concerts. Czwith the melody epiel said, “getand [she] loves ting to know the way it builds.” each other betKenny Lu ’19 addThe Tour Choir poses while hiking at El Caminito del Ray in central Spain. ter helped us feel ed, “Listening to more confident Sam Jenkins ’19 solo on ‘Loch Lomond’ was always a pleasure.” and united when we sang.” One of the choir’s favorite At every concert, the Tour Choir collaborated places to visit was the Mezquita de Cordoba. Lu explained with a local choir. Both choirs would perform a set of why it was his favorite stop: “Our tour guide pointed out songs on their own, and then would sing a set of songs a lot of small details in the building while explaining the together. Leah Miller ’20 said, “It was a special treat to be history, and it was a genuinely engaging experience.” Another standout moment in the trip was El able to sing their pieces alongside [other choirs]; for me, that was the most culturally immersive part of the tour.” Caminito del Rey, a walking path that follows a gorge in The Tour Choir’s performances improved Malaga. Prairie Resch ’21 enjoyed the path: “the scale and from the send-off concert to the final performance in the beauty made it an unforgettable experience for me.” Madrid. Czepiel commented on the progression: “I Schroth also loved the trail, saying it “was staggeringly think our sound improved over the course of the trip beautiful - worth waking up before dawn to get there.” The Hopkins Tour Choir’s Trip to Portugal as we got more comfortable with not only the music, but also singing in such resonant spaces.” Tour Choir and Spain was an opportunity for students to gain conDirector Erika Schroth agreed: “If you could hear our cert experience while becoming closer with the people send-off concert the day before we left (which already they performed with through exploring new places. sounded good) and our final performance in Madrid, Reflecting on the trip, Hartigan said that he “formed you would definitely notice the increased expression, a lot of fond memories on this trip that [he will] have unity of sound, and energized musicianship on display.” with him for quite a while, and it would be hard to While most students were part of Con- think of better people to share the experience with.” Lilly Meyers ’20 Assistant Features Editor
Hopkins in Guatemala
Julia Kosinski ’21 Assistant News Editor On August 5, a group of ten students and two chaperones traveled to Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, where they spent ten days volunteering at a local elementary school and gaining insight into Guatemalan culture. At the school, Hopkins students painted classrooms and murals and taught the local students English. Ava Pfannenbecker ’21 recalled her time spent with local children, “I loved playing with the kids at recess. Even though I was continuously pelted with plastic soccer balls, recess was never ending fun filled with laughter and new friendships.” Reflecting on “how much privilege we have here in the United States,” JJ Drummond ’22 stated, “All the kids I talked to and played with were the happiest little kids I’ve ever seen. They don’t need materialistic things to make them happy.” Hopkins students also had the opportunity to visit museums, watch demonstrations, and even test their dancing skills at a Salsa class. Jason Chung ’21 commented,“My favorite activities were zip lining across the forest valley and
Susan Bennitt Hopkins students and chaperones pose in front of a mural of a turtle that they painted at a school in Guatemala.
driving up a huge mountain to get to hot springs because it allowed us to see and appreciate the entirety of Guatemala.” Pfannenbecker further reflected: “most nights we got to come together as a group to discuss our experiences from the day, which always revealed new questions and ideas.” Ben Levine ’19 recounted a memorable excursion: “We also took a hike during a rainstorm up to Lake Chicabal. We had a really sketchy ride in a pickup truck that made fake bull noises and the lake was just beautiful once we finally reached it.” Experiencing Guatemalan culture and visiting local landmarks provided each student with unique perspectives and memories. Drummond recalled, “I got to try a lot of new things and get out of my comfort zone. I also got to meet a lot of new people from Hopkins whom I probably wouldn’t have met.”