A20 Opinion
May 27, 2009
The Chronicle
The Chronicle
Harvard-Westlake School •Volume X VIII • Issue 8 • May 27, 2009
3700 Coldwater Canyon, North Hollywood, CA 91604 Editors in Chief: Lucy Jackson, Andrew Lee Managing Editors: Alexia Boyarsky, A.J. Calabrese Executive Editors: Julie Barzilay, Derek Schlom Presentations Editors: Cathi Choi, Dana Glaser Business Manager: Carly Mandel Ads Manager: Neha Nimmagadda Assistant: David Burton Chief Copy Editor: Ellina Chulpaeff Online Assistant Editor: Mac Taylor News Managing Editors: Shayna Freisleben, Carly Radist Section Heads: Hana Al-Henaid, Sammy Roth Production Head: Nicki Resnikoff Online Editors: Michelle Nosratian Copy Editor: Spencer Gisser Assistants: Olivia Kwitny, Matthew Lee, Alice Phillips, Daniel Rothberg, Sade Tavanganian, Catherine Wang Features Managing Editors: Marni Barta, Faire Davidson Section Heads: Drew Lash, Lauren Seo Production Editors: Jamie Kim, Candice Navi Assistants: Ingrid Chang, Jordan Freisleben, Jordan McSpadden, Kelly Ohriner, Hannah Rosenberg Opinion Managing Editors: Annie Belfield, Ashley Halkett Section Heads: Anna Etra, Erin Moy Production Editor: Ester Khachatryan Assistant: Emily Khaykin Sports Managing Editors: Ben Goldstein, Cody Schott Section Heads: Sam Adams, Jack Davis Production Editors: Alex Edel, Jonah Rosenbaum Junior Varsity Editor: Cary Volpert Copy Editor: Jack Schwada Online Editors: Seth Goldman, Sean Kyle Assistants: Austin Block, Alec Caso, Alex Leichenger, Tiana Woolridge Supplement Managing Editors: Emily Friedman, Candace Ravan Supplement Section Heads: Allegra Tepper, Michelle Yousefzadeh Assistants: Mary Rose Fissinger, Jean Park, Emily Wallach Adviser: Kathleen Neumeyer The Chronicle is the student newspaper of Harvard-Westlake School. It is published eight times per year. Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the senior members of the Editorial Board. Advertising questions may be directed to Business Manager Carly Mandel at (818) 481-2087. Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement of the product or service by the newspaper or the school.
andrew lee/chronicle
“Wait, where is Ted Slavin Field?”
Bridging the Campus Gap
H
arvard-Westlake’s unique division of middle and high school into two vaguely connected three-year chunks is accompanied by many advantages, but sometimes it feels like students on the opposite campus might as well attend an entirely different school.
Steps could easily be taken to bridge the gap between the two campuses so as to retain their individual personalities while building helpful connections. The simplest step that comes to mind is to create an event to allow upper school faculty and students the chance to explore the modernized middle school campus. How many Coldwater students can say they have yet experienced the 800seat Bing Auditorium or set foot in the spacious middle school cafeteria? It’s not as if we feel unwelcome, but such an event would be valuable in uniting the two campuses and boost school spirit in its own way. The House System is another thread that could unite the two campuses. Maybe when all three classes currently on the middle school campus reach the Upper School, they could carry the House System up with them. Freshmen athletes often find themselves shuttled to the Upper School to practice, and thus develop a hazy awareness of certain key elements of the upper school campus – the field, the cafeteria, the sports locker room. However, performing artists and students with other interests are rarely required or encouraged to visit the Coldwater Campus. Also, it’s not unreasonable to say that the recent middle school production of “Romeo and Juliet” went completely unnoticed by many upper school students, and vice versa for upper school performances. Simple acts like announcing middle school concerts and plays at upper school assemblies and doing a more efficient job of distributing the
Chronicle and the Spectrum at the opposite campus would weave meaningful connections. Maybe once a year there could be a “swap day,” where students switch campuses and get to experience the way the other half lives. Students could go to sample classes with past or future teachers and enjoy the full range of resources Harvard-Westlake offers. Or maybe there could be a version of the “Activities Fair” for middle schoolers to sample upper school extracurriculars. It would even be helpful if a student could shadow an older student at some point during the second semester. The two campuses have distinct personalities and that is a good thing—we are not asking for the two ways of life to blend into one continuous experience. We like that we can reflect on the middle school and imagine relaxing on the Fire Road or stressing in Tech & Skills but flash back to the upper school with entirely different memories of staying up all night or decorating a friend’s parking space. We would just like it if seventh grade students could feel somewhat connected to their senior counterparts, whom they are, at present, likely to never lay eyes on. The tour of the Upper School on seventh grade retreat should not be middle school student’s only glimpse of upper school life until they are sophomores. The school can help build a bridge between the two campuses to make sure all students can take full advantage of the talented students and teachers who attend the same school but who basically exist in a different world.
Experiment with the curriculum
I
t is indisputable that Harvard-Westlake has established itself as a highlyregarded high school, and now that we have earned credibility in the academic world, notably among college admissions officers, it is time to broaden our intellectual horizons by taking academic risks.
The school’s reputation is validated by the students’ excellent performance on standardized tests. In 2008, 584 students took 1,731 AP examinations, scoring 5s on 45 percent of the tests and 3s or higher on 93 percent of the tests. As a toptier school, we are free from the constraints faced by schools attempting to improve in rank. The school could potentially drop APs from the curriculum and still expect to maintain prestige. Let’s remind ourselves that our school emblem states, “They can because they think they can.” Our motto encourages us to take greater risks, so let this be reflected by our curriculum. If we were to replace APs with honors courses, the curriculum would become more flexible and allow for more interactive methods of learning. Even if wekeep the AP system we could institute creative ways of learning for instance increasing the number of field trips. Art History teachers could lead trips to museums and foreign language classes could interact with other cultures. Without pressure to receive excellent grades, seniors are in the prime condition to explore academically, and the school should capitalize on this. While we appreciate the stress-free environment that follows APs, do we really want to end with laziness? In seventh grade we came to school each
day excited to learn. Let’s tap into the spirit that many of us once had and end high school on a high note. A senior thesis in which seniors extensively research an area of interest would provide seniors with the opportunity to enrich themselves intellectually in an enjoyable manner. The school could organize internships throughout the city, and through these internships, seniors would gather material for a final thesis. Milken Community High School and Loyola High School have proven that the innovative curriculum changes we seek are feasible. The Wise Individualized Senior Experience is a nonprofit organization that has a chapter at Milken as well as over eighty other high schools. It provides second semester seniors with the opportunity to explore areas of interest through hands-on research accompanied by an internship. At Loyola, seniors are required to participate in a three-week project in which they perform 85 hours of community service rather than attend classes. The senior seminars held at our school are a step in the right direction. It is our hope that the school will expand programs like this and that they will eventually be incorporated into the curriculum of each grade. Students should be able to look to Harvard–Westlake to facilitate such academic exploration.