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March 2013

Page 1

Moorestown Friends School, Moorestown, NJ

By Lauren Lowe

At the end of February, it was announced that the school had found a solution to help ease the congestion in the parking lot after school. Students were asked to wait to leave at 3:30 in the afternoon after the buses and lower school parents have pulled out instead of trying to get out of campus immediately at 3:10. The suggestion has been met with a considerable amount of resistance from student drivers. Many students want to know why they’re being asked to sacrifice parts of their routine without the parents being asked to make any accommodations as well. “I think it’s both unfair and unrealistic,” said senior Nicole Hovatter. “It shows a lack of concern for the needs of the upper school students – why are the requests of lower school parents being met when ours are not?” The parking lot issue has been a source of friction between upper school students and lower school parents for the past several months, and students have complained that double-parked parents restrict them from leaving on time. The lower school parents have usually lined the oval and lots with their cars well before 3:10, and by dismissal the entire lot is packed with student and parents’ cars. For some students, it’s not just a desire to get home as soon as possible after the day is over. Senior Miranda Remington stated, “I have to go to work at four and I will get fired if these lower school moms don’t move so that I can leave on time.” Senior Emiko Borne raised another question. “I

would like to know why no one recognizes the sheet sent out to all homes before the beginning of the year that clearly states ‘no double parking’. There is no way to misunderstand what that says and no reason why the rule shouldn’t be followed,” she pointed out. Upper school dean Mike Brunswick wants students to keep in mind that the request to wait until 3:30 is just that, a request, not a rule. “I think it’s just a reminder that parents are

Photo By Austin Harris

Double-Parked

March 2013

going to be there and you won’t be able to back out sometimes right at 3:10,” Brunswick said. “It’s more of a ‘if you can wait, please wait.’” There is a concern that the long line of lower school parents could cause a huge back up on Main Street if everyone actually waited in line. With additional parents from middle and upper school contributing to the

Different Strokes for Different Folks: A Unique Teaching Style at MFS By Gaelyn Gregory

In history teacher Eliza McFeely’s to go on the quilt. For example, one student is 10th grade American History class, the students come together to make making a square about the Wizard a quilt at the end of the third quarter. of Oz; they are taking the scarecrow The quilt’s subject is the period at the and showing how it represents small farmers fighting back against capitalend of the 19th century. ism. “I came up In about a with it because week and a half, I realized I was everyone’s hard using a metawork comes tophor of a quilt,” gether. The final said McFeely. project is a quilt Throughout the with individual quarter, stusquares containdents realize ing information that everything they are learnabout the end ing relates to of the 19th ceneach other. tury. A close-up of the quilt. “I learn a lot “It is an inPhoto By Austin Harris because I can see how the mate- teractive project, filled with enjoyable rial we are learning lays out and con- moments,” Pilar Martinez stated. nects to each other in a quilt formaMrs. McFeely’s classes have also tion. It’s a lot of fun,” said American done other similar projects, including History student Molly Fischer. making a puzzle. The students are The students learn about the learning and having fun at the same end of the 19th century in America, time by using the metaphor of a quilt. and then take different aspects of the period and each design a square

2012-13, Issue 6

volume of traffic on and off campus as well, cars can slow to a crawl all the way down Main Street. However, student drivers seem to remain unimpressed with that reasoning. “I went to lower school here from preschool through fourth [grade],” Borne stated, “and getting picked up in the car line was never a problem.” Associate Head of School Chris Kimberly said that space for parking was an issue even before his time at MFS. “About eight years ago [the school was] looking at the facilities and extending the parking lot meant taking up an athletic field, and then adding on to the athletic fields in the back meant taking up a new field with protected wetlands, which was not possible,” he stated. “So we needed to get creative. People were brought in for solutions and they told us with 700 students there was going to be no way to do it. We’ve made the seemingly impossible work. One of the ways to make it work is to allow for double parking in that crunch time during carline.” When asked to clarify just how short “short-term” double parking was, Kimberly said, “Five to three is where you start to see parents lining up because lower school pick up starts earlier than middle and upper school at 3:05, not 3:10.” He also added, “There should be no reason to double-park before 2:45.” If students are still upset and frustrated with the current parking situation, Mr. Kimberly encourages them to continue the discussion with the administration to come up with solutions. He suggested, “Maybe take it to upper school agenda so the administration can get an accurate report from students to find a solution and communicate better.”

An MFS Student’s Dream Come True:

A Vending Machine in Hartman Hall? By Sloane Gandler

Hartman Hall has become an integral part of Moorestown Friends School’s campus. The environmentally friendly building is known for housing the MFS math department and the choir room, and for its long and tiring walk. Students have been grumbling about not being able to buy refreshments after taking the hike. Rumors of whether or not a vending machine will be placed in Hartman Hall have been circulating throughout the school community for some time now. Hartman Hall has been part of campus for almost a year, and yet there is still no vending machine for students and faculty to enjoy. “When Hartman Hall was constructed, there was a space specifically put aside for a vending machine,” said Upper School math teacher Michael Omilian. “The space is next to where the elevator is on the top floor.” “I’ve asked Mr. Kimberly a couple of times when the vending machine is going to be put in place,” Omilian stated. Upper School Director Chris Kimberly stated that

the issue has already been taken to the Administrative Council in October by the company that operates the dining hall, Choice Foods. “The Administrative Council met to discuss vending machines in general,” Kimberly said. “Choice Foods, who operates the dining hall, basically learned of vending machines that would allow for healthier options for students.” These healthier options would include things like sandwiches and salads, wrapped in special packaging so students could access them easily. Kimberly went on to explain that this new, healthy-food-stocked vending machine would more likely be placed in the Field House, and Hartman Hall will receive the machine currently in the field house. Students can look forward to this new addition to Hartman Hall, but it is unknown exactly when this change will occur. “Bottom line,” Kimberly said, “we’re hoping before the end of the year to get that machine installed and then one over into Hartman Hall.”

Learning Abroad: Intensive Learning Choices By Maura Aleardi This year, there are many different choices for Intensive Learning overnight trips. From Hawaii to France, the travel possibilities are abundant. Each trip has an educational purpose such as ecosystem preservation or the expansion of a student’s international knowledge. The various learning opportunities allow students to choose an Intensive Learning trip that is sure to satisfy their particular desire, whether it be a hunger for knowledge or just a vacation from home. The decision process is different for each student; some will choose the country they have always dreamed of visiting, while others may choose the most educational. Freshman Sasha Katsnelson is going to France this

Intensive Learning. She explained her reason for choosing this particular trip saying, “I wanted to learn French in France because I feel like that’s the best way to learn a language.” In regard to the reason behind students’ trip decisions, Katsnelson said, “it should be a little bit of both and it shouldn’t be just for traveling.” While some students may look at ‘traveling for fun’ as a negative, others look at it positively. Freshman Alexis Tsapralis is also going to France. She decided to go on this trip, “because I have never been there before and the immersion program seems cool.” Tsapralis said most people go on overnight trips “for traveling, I think,” she continued, “but we do get to learn by traveling.”

The decision to travel for Intensive Learning could affect the kind of experience the students have. Senior Odeymarys Garrido said, “If the decision is based on travel I feel the student will be focused on things like taking pictures of all the places they visit, and they will probably be really into all the food.” There are many different kinds of students going on these trips. Each has a different opinion on the trip and a different reason as to why they are going. No matter what the trip or the students going on the trip, “even when things go wrong, one can always take back home a story,” said Garrido.


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