Signpost November 2019

SIGNPOST Hutchison School Student News Magazine November 2019 Volume 19, Issue 7

MORE THAN A DANCE:

How the Upper School Dance Company fosters confidence, creativity, and strength in students through movement page 9

Dress Code Decode pg 6 // Hacking at Hutchison pg 7 // New Girl pg 3

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR page 2

NEW GIRL page 3

DRESS CODE DECODE page 5

MORE THAN A DANCE page 9

The Signpost staff strives to practice ethical journalism and promote integrity in its publications. We welcome submissions from faculty, students, and alums, but we do not guaruntee publication of every article and retain the right to edit contributions for clarity and length.

Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views of the entire staff, faculty, students, or administration. Signpost is made possible in part through the generosity of the classmates and friends of Molly McConnell ‘59, who support student journalism at Hutchison in her memory.

Please email all submissions to signpost@hutchisonschool.org.

HACKING AT HUTCHISON page 7

COLLEGE TRENDS page 11

FIRST SEMESTER STORY page 12

CULTIVATING SERVICE AS A LIFELONG PASSION page 14

NOT HORSING AROUND page 15

DEBATE page 16

STAFF 2019-2020 Abby Hays ‘20: Editor-in-Chief Callie Oehlmer ‘20: Digital Content Editor Ava Dickson ‘22: Staff Writer Kennedy Bell ‘23: Staff Writer Emma Couch ‘23: Staff Writer Estelle Turner ‘23: Staff Writer Lacy Williams: ‘23: Staff Writer

MAN’S BEST FIEND page 17

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eventy-one years ago, students published the very first Hutchison Student’s News and held a contest amongst the student body to determine the official name for the student journalism at our school. Joye Richart polled the majority, and Hutchison Student’s News became The Signpost, named after a signpost that hung outside the Union campus and welcomed students to school each day.

Now, a great deal has changed since 1948. We have changed the layout significantly from a traditional newspaper to a modern news magazine, we shortened the title of our publication to simply Signpost, and we now show up to our campus on Ridgeway each morning instead of on Union Avenue. But throughout all of those changes, one thing has not changed: we still bring you the latest news in our Hutchison community.

Campus news and student journalism is incredibly important to our school because of the connection it builds throughout our community. By picking up a Signpost, readers learn about what is going on around our campus and in the lives of other members of our Hutchison community, whether that means news about the after school dance program, equestrian endeavors of a student, or the college experience of a recent graduate.

Additionally, being a part of Signpost has helped me outside of the newsroom. My writing for all classes has improved because writing articles teaches me how to develop strong arguments and condense all my essays, research papers, and other assignments. Just like readers, I am more informed of events, and journalism also pushes me to understand other people’s viewpoints on various controversial topics. Overall, I have benefitted greatly from my three-and-a-half years in this class, and I encourage you to get involved in media in any way you can. We always welcome submissions from other students and faculty. If you would like to contribute, please email all submissions to signpost@hutchisonschool.org.

Thank you for choosing to pick up another issue of Signpost; this publication features stories from all throughout our Hutchison community. I hope you keep reading and feel more connected to our school, and I hope you feel welcomed back to another day at the hive, just like that original signpost on Union Avenue.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

Sincerely, Abby Hays Editor-in-Chief

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New Girl

by Emma Couch

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I

have always loved change. The idea of starting a new chapter in my life always excited me.

When I found out I would be attending Hutchison in the fall of 2019, I was overcome with happiness. For all the days leading up to the night before school started, I was filled with excitement and felt extremely prepared to take on this new school. As I prepared for school the night before, I took some time to reflect on things I was leaving behind and the changes ahead. My tight knit group of friends was now scattered across the Memphis area at various schools. My sister, who also started attending Hutchison when she was a freshman, tried her best to explain what school would be like; however, my sister and I are very different people who have different interests, so this made it harder to grasp what I was getting myself into. Not knowing what my days at Hutchison would consist of furthered my hesitations.

When I walked in Labry on my first day of school, I was overwhelmed by the large group of senior girls screaming and plastering me with stickers. That is when I saw that Hutchison was a place filled with happiness. Throughout the day as I went through my classes, I was shocked by the number of girls I did not know.

I already had a group of girls that I knew prior to attending Hutchison, and they were my constant support system in navigating the daily Hutchison life.

The first day consisted of awkward encounters with people I kind of knew and weird interactions with my sister’s friends. Although I felt extremely welcomed, I wondered if I would ever truly fit in or if I would just remain a new girl. As the days progressed, I began to feel much more comfortable in everything a did at school. To my surprise, I began to feel like I had been at this school forever after only a few weeks.

The Upper School Peer Council, led

by Lilly West ‘20, played a major role in

me figuring everything out; they would constantly leave notes in my locker and check to make sure I was adjusting properly.

I saw real change when we went on our freshman retreat to Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. When we got our room assignments, I was in a room with both girls that I knew and girls that I did not know, which made me a little nervous.

After only one night, we were talking like we had been friends forever. This is when I saw the beauty of friendship within the Hutchison community. This retreat truly made me feel like I was no longer a new girl and that I was just another girl in the freshman class. The beauty of friendship and unconditional love really impacted my entrance into this community.

As the weeks continued, student council elections were mentioned, and I was interested in running for communications officer. I have always had a passion for leadership and truly believed I would be great serving the freshman class. As I nervously entered my name into the race seeing that many girls were running, I merely assumed I would not win due to many girls still not knowing anything about me. Happily, I ended up winning the election, which utterly shocked me.

That was reassurance to me that I truly belonged here at Hutchison. I no longer felt as if I did not know everyone.

Attending Hutchison has taught me a lot about myself and the people around me. I have learned that putting yourself out there is truly the best way to get things done no matter how nervous you are and when you are surrounded by true friendship and happiness, you can succeed much farther than you think. I walked into the doors on the first day unsure of myself and how I would adapt to this new environment. Although I have only been at Hutchison for a short amount of time, I know that I will always have an everlasting bond with all these girls, and I cannot see myself anywhere else.

photo by Callie Oehmler ‘20

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Dress Code Decode

by Abby Hays

arker Uniform, a major uniform supplier for private schools around Memphis, closed unexpectedly on Thursday, January 4, 2018, leaving schools – including Hutchison – and parents to search for new options before the next school year. At Hutchison, this news sparked meetings about potential uniform companies, prompted many questions from the school community, and caused us all to consider what we want the uniform to look like.

However, uniforms are a relatively new requirement for Hutchison Upper School students.

Upper School Assistant Head Mrs. Katy Nair explains, “They started wearing uniforms during the 2003-2004 school year… the little kids had a uniform they wore… on P.E. days.” Nair explains that it was the class of 2006 that truly catalyzed the shift in student attire. “We had been talking about whether we wanted to go to a uniform or not…

That class [of 2006] came and asked me when they were sophomores if the uniform skirts were inside the dress code... so the whole class started buying uniform stuff. The student council leaders brought the proposition of requiring uniforms to the school and we did a survey, and everyone decided that they wanted to go to uniforms. It was both parents and kids [who filled out the survey].” From there, the Heads of School, Admissions, Lower, Middle, and Upper School collaborated to write the dress code.

These leaders of our school had to discuss questions about what rules we should have and why they

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should exist, some of which still plague the student body today.

One of the most prominently questioned – and broken – rules of the dress code is that students are prohibited from wearing non-Hutchison approved sweatshirts. But with so many Hutchison sweatshirts – some approved and some not – available via the Buzz Shop, athletic spirit shops, and online uniform stores, how can students know which they can wear throughout the school day? According to Nair,

“Students should wear uniform skirts that reach no shorter than one inch past the individual student’s fingertips.”

“When we first added sweatshirts to the Hutchison uniform, there were only one or two options but over time, it has expanded… All the uniform-approved sweatshirts are black, gray, white, or gold and say Hutchison one them.” Other sweatshirts are not a part of the dress code for “socioeconomic reasons;” for example, a sweatshirt “that has any kind of status to it would not be a part of our dress code,”

Nair states. Many students argue that restricting sweatshirts does not prevent students from showing off socioeconomic status. All the students are still allowed to wear designer purses and shoes to school and drive expensive cars. Nair refutes the argument, saying that “purses, shoes, etc. are accessories that we do not have control over.” As temperatures drop, check out the Buzz Shop or the uniform swap for sweatshirts – just be sure to check if they are uniform-approved.

Beyond just the Hutchison community, there are constant debates around our country and news articles about unjust female dress codes, particularly in terms of skirt length. How does one decide the appropriate skirt length, and what prompts those rules? Here at Hutchison, “society determines those rules for us” according to Nair. Students should wear uniform skirts that reach no shorter than one inch past the individual student’s finger tips, and the Upper School student should not wear the uniform skort from the Middle School dress code as “it is made shorter” than the other skirts and “girls tend to cut out the shorts from the skort.” In terms of enforcement of the rules, students notice a discrepancy in that some faculty members seem to enforce skirt length rules more than others. Nair explains that this happens because “some teachers have trained themselves to notice [dress code infractions] more than others.”

Our current culture begs one question: will the Hutchison pants ever return? According to Nair, “that is something to address with student council but in the past, most people have chosen the skirts over the pants.”

If a student would like to address a problem she has with the uniform, Nair encourages her that she should “probably go through student government first, and go to her class representative or the student council, and then the student council could propose a change to the Upper School.”

Source: NCES

“If a student would like to address a problem she has with the uniform... the student counil could propose a change to the Upper School.”

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Hacking at Hutchison

by Estelle Turner

At Hutchison, one of the many topics students frequently discuss is the Wi-Fi. It is an everyday game for students to be huddled in groups with their phones, guessing the Wi-Fi password to share with fellow students. Students complain about how the service is terrible and how they are not allowed to have the Wi-Fi. They often get confused as to why they aren’t allowed to have it, or if they do somehow manage to find the password, they get blocked. These students are no longer able to access the internet.

Most students believe it is the teachers that do not want them to have access to Wi-Fi. Katy Nair, Upper School Assistant Head disagrees: “I think it would be awesome if [students] could have the Wi-Fi, but I also think that means we would have to upgrade our systems quite a bit. On days students are given access, the faculty has a difficult time getting things done in the office. If everyone had the Wi-Fi, it would slow everything down too much.” Nair explains.

Some students propose the fact that if Hutchison had better service, then no one would need the Wi-

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Fi. Jesse Cresswell states, “We’re about a 52-54-acre campus, and we have the trees surrounding us. The trees can impede the signals and can block it, and the closest towers are on Ridgeway and Poplar. The only one that remotely works on campus is Verizon.”

While the service is something he has been working on, the process will not be quick or easy.

Being blocked is a concern, but also a risk many students are willing to take just to have the Wi-Fi for a couple of days or, hopefully, for the rest of the month.

“If I see that the internet’s just being tanked because there’s so many people on there, I just look at the guest Wi-Fi and if I just see rows of phones that have students names on them, we just block them to knock them off the Wi-Fi,” Cresswell explains. The reason for this is because it is easier for the tech department

Rowan Whittington ‘23 and Lucy Chiozza ‘23 use their phones during a free period in the freshman commons.

Whittington gives her input on student access to Wi-Fi: “I think we should have the Wi-Fi because it helps us interact with each other better and find each other throughout the school.” to block people rather than change the password early (instead of every thirty days) and having to tell the whole faculty. When asked if people could ever get unblocked, Cresswell answered with this: “We were unblocking people once a year, but I’m going to start doing it regularly, like every quarter or so.”

Hacking into student’s computers is another current problem among the student body. Unlike the Wi-Fi and service, this is an easier problem to fix. “The reason why this has happened for all the students I have spoken with is because they use their school password on other websites.” Jesse Cresswell, the Technology Director, explains. The solution to this problem is for students to not use their Hutchison password for any other website. Cresswell says that he will be meeting with the whole Upper School about how to prevent hacking and changing passwords every ninety days or so.

Have you been hacked? Visit the technology help desk for aid and information about resetting your passwords, and remember to only use your Hutchison password for school-related accounts.

“If I see that the internet’s just being tanked... I just look at the guest Wi-Fi and if I see rows of phones that have students names on them, we just block them to knock them off the Wi-fi.”

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More Than a Dance

by Lacy Williams

“Dance lives in us; it gives us human connection”.

Throughout the school day, students from Lower to Middle school can be seen running the halls, ballet shoes in hand, toward the dance studio in Dobbs.

The dance program at school has been part of the curriculum for 14 years and continues to grow, exposing students to different genres that range from ballet to urban hip hop. A passion for movement extends all the way to Upper School. More students are showing interest and joining classes through the Creative Ballet Center, Hutchison’s after school program, while others are enterprising their own classes. Whether it is a Lower School student who is learning how to turn for the first time, or an Upper School member of the modern dance company, the interest in dance goes beyond those impressive moves.

Louisa Koeppel, Dance Instructor and Creative Ballet Center Director, believes every body is a dancer body. “We provide project-based learning experiences and the tools of choreography that allow the dancer to explore story and emotions and connect them to strong women from the past and the present, “she said as she explained the purposes of the class.

She wants students who take her class to have an understanding that “dance is to express yourself and not to impress,” These classes are notable because of

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the life lessons they teach. Micca Lejwa ‘20 has been in Koeppel’s dance class since her freshman year.

With this class, “Me, Katy, and Elizabeth, who are also in the class, created our own dance and we’ve been performing it for the past 3 years, and she just let us do that as long as it was about empowering women,” she stated. Without this class, she feels as if she would not have become more confident and open to new ideas and challenges, and she hopes to take the lessons she learned on how to be a STRONG

“... project-based learning experiences... to explore story and emotions and connect them to strong women from the past and the present.” woman with her to college.

Koeppel uses her classes and performances to get across the message that body confidence and feeling empowered in yourself is way better than learning any dance move. She firmly believes that every person can dance, it is just a matter of bringing out the rhythm and the movements. As girls like Lejwa go through the courses of dance at Hutchison, they “walk away with a sense of confidence in their own bodies and take note of who they are as a human”.

She has ingrained this lesson into all her students, and it shows in all they do both in and out of the studio. This new-found confidence inspires students to do their own activities. For example, Emma Day ‘21 is putting the lesson she learned to use, and her new program is “a great way to start crossover initiatives”.

Day is the first student to create her own dance class for the Creative Ballet Center. She saw a need for a new class because “there weren’t many more classes that she wanted to take.” Day began dancing here at Hutchison and looked to Koeppel as a mentor when the idea came to introduce a new type of movement to her peers. Emma described her saying, “She was the only consistent resource I had. I’ve been taking classes from her since I was three.” With an interest in KPOP, an acronym for Korean pop music, Day decided to start up her urban dance class. By using KPOP, she drew the attention of some of her peers.

Day believes that everyone is a dancer. She explains that, “Everyone can dance, and everyone has rhythm.

It is my job as a teacher to help people find it, but it is their job to have the motivation to find it too.”

She started the class last spring, a bigger fete for a sophomore than anticipated. “I just learned dances in my free time, but I had to learn to adjust the way I taught them,” Day adds. She noted that the hardest part was to simplify the moves that she watched and

break them down in a way that a group of students could easily pick up the choreography. Day says she approaches each dance by “think[ing] through the dance and then teach[ing] step by step,” and “it was a challenge to break it down and get it exactly right to then teach to the class.” Although she is new to teaching, her students appreciate the type of dance and the structure of the class. One of her students, Hannah Gail Flatt described the class as “a really fun way to express yourself while still getting exercise.”

Day strongly believes that hard work and motivation will get you much further than just sheer talent, and it shows both in her dance and in her personal life.

Dance at Hutchison is known for its advanced teachings of safe and challenging techniques, but it is also known for helping girls strive to be their best selves. Whether the students in the class continue to dance into their proffessional careers or only dance as a hobby as they get older, they can still use the lessons taught in these classrooms such as self-confidence, determination, and passion to help them succeed in both their academic and personal lives.

“Whether the students in the class continue to dance into their proffessional careers or only dance as a hobby as they get older, they can still use the lessons taught in these classrooms such as self-confidence, determination, time management, and passion to help them succeed.”

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College Trends

by Kennedy Bell

very year, the same question plagues the Hutchison seniors: Where should I go to college? Out of all the colleges in existence, choosing the right one can be a rigorous task. Some girls base their decisions on intended major, athletic opportunities, or the social scene.

During the process of choosing colleges, Hutchison girls are asked what they want in a college. Lauren Colpitts, College Counseling Director, says common questions asked are, “Do they want a new social setting, or do they want to be surrounded by people exactly like them?”

Because geography can play such a large role in a student’s decision, Hutchison encourages their students to look at a range of schools both in the

Southeast and elsewhere. Colpitts takes every approach to help each girl find the right fit. “If a girl likes Rhodes but wants to get out of the Southeast, then we start looking at colleges and universities similar to Rhodes but in the West or the Northeast”.

“As you’re doing the college search, it’s like trying to find those favorite pair of jeans, you have to try on lots of pairs of jeans to find the perfect fit,” describes Colpitts.

However, this begs the following question: do students tend to enroll in the same regions or in the same types of schools? The data from the infographics below come from student enrollment history and a poll sent to the Upper School student body.

Washington and Lee University campus photo courtesy of Marilyn Wiener ‘20

Source: CNBC

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First Semester Story

by Grace Galler ‘19

am officially 12 weeks into my college career, and I can honestly say that this has been the most trying, emotional, scary, fun, and exciting time of my life. On August 13th, I packed up my car and took off to Columbia, South Carolina. Ten hours from home surrounded by a new city and new people, adrenaline took over my body. Move-in was a blur, with furniture being moved, bed skirts being tied up, photographs being hung on the wall, all in a very small dorm room up on the 4th floor of Patterson Hall. The emotions didn’t hit until my parents looked at me and we all knew it was time to say goodbye. A flood of emotions hit; the reality that it was time to be a “big girl” now was creeping into my brain, and tears began to roll. Luckily for my college experience, rush started the next day at 6:00 am, which did not leave a lot of time to dwell on the homesickness.

“I have learned more about myself and what I want out of my life in the last 12 weeks here than I ever thought I would.”

Sorority Rush was a whole different type of experience, one that is unique to each school.

However, the one nice thing about it was that I was introduced to so many girls, each unique and different in their own way. This experience brought me the feeling of comfort I always had at Hutchison. I was surrounded by girls who all were going through mostly the same experience and willing to lend a helping hand or a smile when needed. After 10 days of rush, bid day came, and I found a place I now get to call my home. It was an exciting time, but college is not just about a social setting; the real reason we are here is for school.

Classes eventually started, and it was time to tackle the idea of having classes that vary from 12 people to 303 people. When picking my classes, it reminded me a lot of my freshman year of Hutchison. Most schools have a core curriculum in which you must complete a certain amount of hours in different areas of study. Thus, my first semester classes are a lot of general education classes, not the classes particular to my major. The hardest balance by far has been learning how to be able to balance schoolwork and

“I thought that because I was ‘on my own’ now that it would be a burden for me to call home and ask for help.”

activities on weeknights. Also, it is extremely hard to wake yourself up in the morning for that 8 am when you are used to having a parent help you up and out the door in the morning. Thus, comes the sacrifices you begin to make. In college, there is no one telling you not to go out on a Tuesday night; you have to make that call. If you know that you have an 8 am on Wednesday or an exam the next day, maybe you should make the call not to participate in T-Shirt Tuesday downtown.

Throughout my 12 weeks here, I can truly say that I thought that I had to know all the answers all the time. I thought that because I was “on my own” now that it would be a burden for me to call home and ask for help. I began to find myself in a hole of anxiety and emotions and unable to get out of it. I did not want to admit that I was not happy where I was. I did not want all these people from home talking about how I “failed,” when in actuality, there is no shame in not being happy where you are. I called home and explained all my feelings to my parents, emotional and tired I could not fake happy anymore. My mother gave me the best advice she could have given me.

She told me that even though I am “on my own,” I am still only 18-years-old. My brain is nowhere near developed, and that it is okay for me not to be totally sure of where my life was headed. After lots of time, consideration, and conversations, I decided with my parents that it would be best for me to transfer after my fall semester here at South Carolina.

“I was surrounded by girls who all were going through mostly the same experience and willing to lend a helping hand or a smile...”

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Life is going to throw you curve balls, and once you get to college, especially when you feel like you need to have it all figured out, it is easy to lose sight of who you truly are. I was beginning to lose my identity because I was trying so hard to be what people around me wanted me to be. I wanted everyone at home to see my Instagram photos or my Facebook posts and be just as excited to go to college as I was.

However, Instagram and Facebook never show how trying college truly can be. It is a learning experience, a time to figure out who you truly are. Your life does not stop after college.

So, my advice to you is to pick a school where you believe you can be truly yourself. I also want you to realize that first semester is hard. It is not easy. You have to meet new people, make new friends, and adjust to a new living situation, and all of these things

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can have an impact on your mental and physical health. Make sure that once you get to school, ask for help when you need it because there are so many resources available to you; you just have to be the one to reach out and use them. Not all bumps in the road your first semester will lead to transferring, but it is important to realize that transferring is ok. Just because you may transfer does not mean you “failed� in any way. If anything, it means you stepped out of your comfort zone and tried something new. Just because it did not work out does not mean you did not learn anything from it. I have learned more about myself and what I want out of my life in the last 12 weeks here than I ever thought I would. I am excited to see where the rest of my college career takes me. I wish you all the best as you make these decisions in the upcoming months and years.

Cultivating Service as a Lifelong Passion

by Latonya Faulkner, Director of Hutch Serves originally published in Tour Collierville

For Isabella (Bella) Snow, class of 2020 at Hutchison School, service to the Memphis community doesn’t take a break. In fact, when she heard that a service project in a local elementary school had been discontinued, she saw the value it would have for the young girls at the school and decided to jump-start the project again.

Over the past two years, Bella has led the “Girls in Pearls” service project, teaching etiquette and life skills to fourth grade girls. She started by collaborating with school administrators to find out their needs and target areas of focus. She eagerly planned out the project and strategically improved it by incorporating more interactive activities, including interviewing skills, dressing for success, social media etiquette, table manners, bullying prevention, health, fitness, and philanthropy.

She also arranged excursions to restaurants to give the girls opportunities to apply what they had learned.

“I have grown so much through my service leadership projects,” Bella said. “Teaching the girls has been a wonderful experience, but it’s also helped me develop academically and personally.

Many of the relationships have been truly symbiotic.”

Through Hutchison Serves, a program housed under Hutchison’s comprehensive co-curricular leadership department, Hutchison girls have the opportunity to serve the community while establishing and maintaining meaningful connections with individuals and organizations throughout the calendar year. Hutchison Serves was created by a generous gift from alumna Kirby Dobbs Floyd (class of 1982) and her husband Glenn Floyd. The goal of Serves is to facilitate service-learning activities for

all Hutchison girls – from early childhood (starting at age 2) through senior year in upper school. Bella was the 2019 recipient of the Kirby Dobbs and Glenn Floyd Excellence in Service Scholarship Award.

The Hutchison Serves program cultivates the service learning model by combining community service with learning objectives, preparation, and reflection. Structural components include meaningful service through community engagement and sustainable relationships. Overall, the goal of service learning is to connect communities from various backgrounds through common experiences.

In addition to volunteering for service hours, Hutchison girls can partner with various community organizations to create sustainable service projects through the Wilson Society, established by the Kemmons Wilson Family Foundation. The Wilson Society encourages the girls to create individual service projects based on issues they are passionate about in the Memphis community.

As the 2019-2020 Wilson Society co-president, Bella took on the Girls in Pearls project in addition to an established Wilson Society project she was working on.

In addition to maintaining sustainable projects throughout the entire school year, Bella encourages her peers to venture out and explore service opportunities during academic breaks, such as fall break. “Not having schedule restrictions provides endless possibilities to engage in meaningful service over during breaks,” she said. She added that while continuous and sustainable service projects are the overarching goal, breaks are an ideal time to think beyond yourself and engage in service for others.

“Choosing servant leadership as an alternative to taking time off or vacationing often ignites a passion for service and discovering the importance of giving beyond yourself.”

Bella Snow truly has a heart for service and desires to make a positive impact on her community.

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For many, fall break means hitting the beach but for Hutchison sophomore Abigail Arnold, fall break meant hitting the horse show arena and bringing home national honors with her horse, Quinito.

The two spent fall break competing against some of the nation’s best Englishstyle equestrians. Just qualifying for the competition is an honor they have been working toward for months.

“I went to the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Dover Medal Finals over fall break. To get there, I had to win 20 points from ribbons across the country. So mostly when I show, I show on the east coast, so I’ve been building my points to got there all year. Once I qualified, I was really, really excited,” explained Arnold.

It was Arnold’s first time to compete at this national event. There were strict requirements to qualify, which meant there were only about 250 contestants who get an invitation to compete.

Arnold finished strong.

Success has meant a big commitment from Arnold, who has spent about 15 weekends so far this year in horse show competitions. The Dover Finals have inspired her to increase the number of shows she will compete in for next year.

Arnold practices five days a week, every week of the year. There is very little time off.

In competition riding, there are different styles, including dressage and jumping and Arnold’s specialties, hunter jumper and equitation.

According to the United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA), hunter jumper is also known as show jumping and offers competition for riders of varying skill levels. Hunter Jumper classes focus on the horses skill set while equitation judges the rider’s ability, form, and skill to allow the horse to perform at its best.

According to the USHJA, there are about 1,000 different competitions nationwide each year. Some of Arnold’s favorite competitions are in Nashville, Tennessee; Charleston, South Carolina; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and

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Washington, D.C. She and her family usually travel to cities within driving distance so they can transport Quinito themselves, by horse trailer. The Arnold family usually arrives at the event a day or two early to prepare. “Usually, a trainer will go exercise Quinito early in the morning and later in the day I’ll have the actual showing,” explained Arnold.

“I’ll get ready for competition about 30 minutes before and then go out and warm up. There are usually two days of showing.”

It is something that is in her blood.

“My mother was really into it, so I’ve kind of been into the horse world all of my life, but I started competitively about 2 years ago,” says Arnold.

Besides Arnold’s strong work ethic, 8 year-old Quinito also plays a part in the pair’s success. “I love the way the partnership in this feels because you really have to understand your horse.

It’s not just you. You have to build a bond and a trust together and that’s what makes showing so special,” notes Arnold. She admits that Quinito, or “Charlie” as she calls him, isn’t always cooperative, “He’s kind of grumpy. I’m not going to lie to you,” she confesses with a laugh. “Sometimes, he’s not very nice, but I love him anyway.”

Arnold has never been seriously injured, but she has fallen off a few times. “If I were to get injured, it would take a lot to get back on, but I know that I always would.” The dangers of horseback riding and jumping are never too far away. “The other day, I saw somebody fall off and break their neck.

That was really scary,” Arnold.

When Arnold is not competing in equestrian events, she’s running track for Hutchison. She loves that sport as well, and it helps her stay in shape for her Hunter Jumper and Equitation events. In November, Arnold was a hometown favorite when she competed in the West Tennessee Hunter Jumper Association’s Harvest Time Horse Show, held during the first weekend in November at the Germantown Charity Horse Show Complex.

photo by Alison Hartwell

Not Horsing Around

by Ava Dickson

Debate Discussion

by Lulu Amro, Debate President In the world of debate, participants must rid their minds of their previously held beliefs. Therefore, professional debaters could essentially commence an argument over anything and everything. Interestingly, however, every single debater in the world agrees on only one single fact: the act of participating in speech and debate inevitably benefits one’s mind.

Speech and debate carry several stereotypes and

“helps research and writing skills due to the rigorous preparation undergone before every competition” standards such as stubbornness and hot-headedness.

Do debaters stand by their argument until death? Yes, they do. But in all fairness, that is their job. However, the benefits of debate quickly refute these common misconceptions. Debate helps research and writing skills due to the rigorous preparation undergone before every competition in order to understand the topic. By developing arguments for both sides, students improve not only their understanding of the topic, but also their ability to create an analysis of the facts. Skilled debaters efficiently master the skill of perspective because of the demand to comprehend the logic behind both arguments. This skill reaches far beyond public forum tournaments. When applied correctly, this form of analysis can be utilized to construct better argumentative essays, win a fight against a sibling, or understand a friend’s point of view when drama occurs.

Debate opens countless opportunities to become a greater scholar, and it helps with cooperation and teamwork. By working alongside teammates, club

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“...debaters efficiently master the skill of perspective because of the demand to comprehend the logic behind both arguments.”

members, and faculty, debaters develop a sense of professionalism and collaboration to ensure a successful debate.

Consequently, the competition’s history has resulted in quite a few setbacks for women. According to a National Forensic Journal, debate receives vastly less participation from women because of the sex-role stereotypes and discrimination that take place around the activity. Due to the competitiveness of debate, the perception of this art veers more toward “masculine” and “aggressive.” The problems, however, do not stop at participation. Women almost always possess a 4% lower chance of winning Lincoln-Douglas debates, and the gap increases with every round. However, if more women began to sign-up for competitions, if more women perceived debate as a chance for them to have a voice, and if more women would be able to say, “Excuse me, but it was my turn to ask a question,” then these discriminatory practices would lessen.

If you are at all interested, then please sign up for events, take the class, or just come talk to me!

Although it may seem that speech and debate is dominated by debate events, tournaments always include room for acting, humorous interpretations, poetry, TV broadcasting, and so much more. There is almost a guarantee that you will find an event that is right for you. If any questions or comments arise, I am here for you. I call unto you, Hutchison girls, to join me and strive for victory in debate!

“...participants must rid their minds of their previously held beliefs...

Interestingly, however, every single debater in the world agrees on only one single fact: the act of participating in speech and debate inevitably benefits one’s mind.”

Man’s Best Fiend: Chapter Two

by Madison Morris

Check out hutchisonsignpost.com for chapter one and the rest of chapter two.

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@beelinebazaar

FOR A CAUSE

10:00 am–4:00 pm Hutchison Goodlett Gymnasium 1740 Ridgeway Rd, Memphis, TN Free Admission

AT THE 13TH ANNUAL HUTCHISON

SATURDAY MARCH 21

Stop by the Hutchison Beeline Bazaar where more than 60 local artists and vendors will be selling jewelry, art, food, textiles, stationery, pottery, fashion, and more! The Beeline Bazaar is an annual student-run event coordinated by members of Hutchison’s junior class.

Your purchases support the student-directed Community Service Endowment Fund at Hutchison that provides grants each year to non-profit organizations through the student-led Philanthropic Literacy Program.