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William Pe nn Cha r te r Sc hool • 3 0 0 0 W. S c h ool Hou s e Lan e, P h ilad elp h ia PA 1 9 1 4 4
Apr il 1, 2 015
ENGLISH DEPT. ANNOUNCES NEW NETFLIX CLASS
Gillian Boss, ‘15
to come to class with a blanket, pillow, comfort mostly be watching shows on Netflix and possibly food and any other movie viewing essentials. have discussions during the time it takes Netflix Penn Charter is proud to announce to load the next episode.” That leaves 10 seconds Netflix Class, a Senior English Elective with Ms. between each episode for class discussion. “Mrs. “The elective will present Landon and Mrs. Malhotra. Students will dive Malhotra and I think Netflix Class will really entertaining and thought into the popular on-demand Internet streaming help seniors get through the trimester, and hopemedia site, watching shows and discussing their fully make them come to school.” Ms. Landon provoking films and favorite series. Netflix was founded in 1997, and continues, “it’s our way of preventing Senioritis.” television shows while first started streaming in 2007. Penn Charter has been discussing a possible Netflix Class since 2010, enabling students to “The English department when the site became really popular amongst high connect with society strives to take Shakespeare school students. The English department finally decided that the class is a necessary English Elecand keep up with the out of Senior Year and insert tive, after so many students petitioned for the eleclatest cinematic trends.” the frequent and unavoidable tive. Unlike the typical senior English class that focuses on one theme each trimester, the new electeenage Netflix splurge.” Ms. Landon hopes the elective will pretive enables students to learn about a universe of sent entertaining and thought-provoking films subjects through a wide variety of films. Students Mrs. Malhotra explains that it is the and television shows while enabling students to will watch R-rated movies and popular TV shows connect with society and keep up with the lat- English department’s desire to reinvent the conwhile steering away from the traditional “English est cinematic trends. Ms. Landon explains, “we’re ventional English class curriculum and start conclass” curriculum. There will be no novels or esstill discussing course curriculum, but we will necting the courses to the modern teenage lifestyle. says involved. Students will simply be required In other words, the English department strives to
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take Shakespeare out of Senior Year and insert the frequent and unavoidable teenage Netflix splurge. Mrs. Malhotra said, “I think it’s going to be a great class! 80 minute blocks will be spent watching Netflix. We probably won’t even discuss anything… We’ll just watch movies and shows.” Upon hearing the news, Senior Sabrina Pogrebivsky conveyed her excitement for the course and stated that she wished the course had been available this year. “Netflix Class is a great idea,” Pogrebivsky said, “not only because it will provide Seniors a break from their hectic schedule but it will also bring a public and prevalent activity into the school day.” Both Ms. Landon and Ms. Malhotra believe the course might not be appealing to some students because it does include a final project at the end of the trimester. Each student will be required to watch four episodes from their series of choice or one movie on Netflix. Recommendations include Tina Fey’s new series (and Netflix original series) Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and classic episodes of Friends, now streaming on Netflix.
NEWS AnD COMMUNITY
NEW Quakerly Dress MANDATE
STUDENT COUNCIL UPDATE Editors Note: For each edition of The Mirror, student council leaders Dolly Segal and Ross Wood will keep the student body informed of Student Council’s plans.
... If you have any comments pertaining to this, or on a different subject please talk to your respective student council representative. -Ross and Dolly
Senior models show what the new dress will be for the coming year. Simple colors will help students limit their morning routine, which currently can be time consuming and unproductive.
Eliza Jacobs, ‘15 After much thought and consideration Penn Charter has decided to alter the dress code policy. Studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between school dress codes and student achievement. With that, it is a strong Quaker belief that each person’s individuality and unique-
Inside this edition....
ness should be conveyed through his/her academia and not by what he or she wears. Therefore, Penn Charter is changing the dress code in order to encourage students to follow Quakerly values and have them focus on their studies. Faculty expect students to respect this change, and hope that they will all follow the newly enforced dress code. All students should attend school in clothing that cov-
ers most of their body. Students are suggested to wear long pants/dresses and long-sleeve shirts. Logos and designs on any article of clothing is also prohibited. Solid colored clothing is strongly recommended. This new policy will allow students to focus closely on their education without the disruption of inappropriate clothing being worn such as short skirts, shirts with logos, leggings. etc.
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PC Quidditch Wins InterAc • Cafeteria ups Water Bottle To $5 • PC Goes 1-1 FitBit
Football Goes Coed, Prospers • LarRabee Becomes rapper Larra-B • and more!
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NEWS AND Community
NEw Tempur-Pedic Mattress to be installed IN Meeting Room
The Mirror Staff 2014-2015
Editors-in-Chief Benjamin Skinner Jeffrey Soffer NEWSPAPER • APRIL2012
Managing Editor Alexa Herskowitz News & Community Emily Barkann Jordyn Schwartz
Alexa Herskowitz, ‘16 Tired of walking out of Meeting for Worship even more exhausted than before? After a large Quaker consensus, Penn Charter has evaluated the necessities of students and has decided to go TempurPedic! Your Thursdays from 11:00 to 11:45 just got that much better! In the 2015 school year, those outrageous benches that were purchased 325 years ago will finally be replaced with Tempur-Pedic lounge beds. With wireless remotes, optional leg heights, and even memory buttons for previous positions, students and faculty will finally be able to rest at ease and comfort and receive the true nap they deserve. When informed about this new change, junior Ally Stern exclaimed, “Yes! My chiropractor will be so excited about this. Students here at PC never get enough sleep, especially me with all my AP Bio stuff, so this will just be an awesome adjustment in my life!”
“Tempur-Pedic is a movement and we can expect that in the 2015-16 school year kids will be much more attentive in class.”
these nappers have what it takes to compete against the rest of the Friends league and will be willing to dedicate themselves to sleeping as quickly as possible during these competitions. I’ve secretly been recruiting at the past meeting for worships, and I know my final roster will be composed of the heaviest, drowsiest, and most competitive sleepers around. With these Tempur-Pedic lounge beds, I have no doubt we have what it takes to annihilate the other Friends schools in a Quaker style.” Tempur-Pedic is a movement and we can expect that in the 2015-16 school year kids will be much more attentive in class. In fact, many students believe that athletics at PC will improve dramatically from this change. Tempur-Pedic lounge beds will take Meeting for Worship to a new zen level next year and we can expect to see many more comfy changes like this in the upcoming years here at PC.
WINTER CONCERT REVIEW PC students are really excited about this Upper School change and hope that soon Tempur-Pedic products will be expanding into their classrooms. It is nice to see that the administration truly cares about student sleeping habits and understands the importance of being comfortable during worship which also eases finding the inner light. Not only are students ecstatic about this, but so is faculty! Ms. Landon, Upper School English teacher, was so thrilled about the change that she announced her plans to start a PC Meeting for Worship napping team! “It is crucial that
New 4-Hour delay, based On Success of 2-hour delay Zachary Jokelson, ‘18 The administration has had enough! Penn Charter administration announced they are tired of students blaming PC for their lack of sleep and bags under their eyes! Apparently, the two hour delay on February 4th was a trial to see how students would behave with more sleep, and apparently this day was more successful than anyone could have ever imagine. The school announced last week that PC is unveiling a new four hour delay schedule, as they feel the benefits of delays are just too spectacular to be relinquished. The school’s administration will implement the delay on Yellow Tuesdays, Yellow Fridays, Blue Wednesdays and Blue Thursdays, just to make it easy to remember for students! Penn Charter administration believes that by having this delay students will be more attentive in class, and also be more grateful towards many PC policies.
“With more time for their morning routine, students are able to go to Starbucks before classes start!” The PC athletic department expects more InterAc championships after this delay, as they feel students will finally have enough rest after a brutal night of practice plus four and a half hours of homework. Having the two hour delay trial proved helpful in the increase of the energy of students, raising their efficiency! With more time for their morning routine, students are able to go to Starbucks before classes start, perhaps also allowing them to switch to decaf with all the sleep they will be getting. Mr. Stevens exclaimed, “finally I will have enough time to get my Vanil-
QUAKERLY DRESS (CONTINUED) Continued from Page 1 “Junior Ally Stern shared that ‘it would be easier to dress in the morning because the more limited dress code would cause there to be less of a variety to choose from.’” Many faculty members and students have shared strong opinions on this new policy. Students have remained on both sides of the new issue as some prefer the strictness while other find that it restricts them. Junior Ally Stern shared that “it would be easier to dress in the morning because the more limited dress code would cause there to be less of a variety to choose from.” On the other hand senior Dolly Segal complained that “it would be a conflict of interest that I can’t wear leggings to school anymore.” Majority of the faculty have reviewed and positively enforced this policy. Biology teacher Dr. Lynch shared that “it makes us more
unified and makes the day easier for teachers.” He further stated that it “changes the view that visitors see when you are presented to them.” Head of Upper School students Mr. Larrabee said that “we need to more actively reflect our Quakerly heritage and past.” This new policy will strongly help to promote the quaker values. With that it is hoped that the new policy will be quickly accepted and appreciated throughout the Penn Charter community.
Student with concern surrounding the new policy should speak to their Student Council representative in order to voice their ideas.
la Bean Frappuccino!” That’s not all, PC faculty believes this four hour delay will give students more of an opportunity to diversify themselves, as they expect students to now have enough time to binge watch countless amounts of Netflix.
“Students also think that this four hour delay will ease them finding their inner light during meeting for worship.”
Librarian Mr. Uhlmann says that the four hour delay will be helpful to the library in many ways, especially since the headquarters of the school’s database is routed through the West Coast. With the delay, the internet seems to magically work better and never seems to lag or stutter! Students will no longer feel the need to use Fisher, as the Friends network will be up and running faster than ever.
Sports Ethan Ashley Eliza Jacobs Editorials Allison Stern Entertainment Gillian Boss Sally Stanley Photography Sabrina Koenig Faculty Advisor Nora Landon
Students also think that this four hour delay will ease them finding their inner light during meeting for worship, as no more napping will be necessary! The switch to a four-hour delay isn’t exactly unprecedented. With the uncovering of many of the school’s archives due to the 325th anniversary, documents were found from 1913, where the school day started at 11:00 and ended at 2:00. This three hour long day, paired with a nice half hour of lunch each day, seems to be the inspiration for the school’s new schedule. The short school day worked then and it should work now! A survey was also found from 1913, which showed that both faculty and students loved the limited class time. The teachers had great, yet short, lectures, and the students did well on tests because their workload and quantity of stuff to memorize decreased along with the hours spent at school. No documents were found discussing why this schedule was abandoned, however it is great to see the school return to its roots of more sleep and quality, yet short, learning burst!
BLOck 9 NOW DAILY!
Jeffrey Soffer, ‘15
After receiving near universal praise for the usefulness of the block, block nine will be added to every day, the administration announced on March 31. In its current version, block nine is used by a whole three clubs. Certainly the overwhelming use is clear and must be extended to be used just as frequently each and every day after classes. During block nine, one can see students waiting around for sports,2watching YouTube videos and straight-up leaving school, surefire signs that the block’s effectiveness has exceeded the expectations of the administration. An anonymous athlete mentions that “with block nine I can finally get to track on time!” The results are in and students seem to love doing nothing, and the administration obviously loves promoting this! Next year, upperschoolers can look forward to being graded on this block, typically reserved for meetings with clubs. The grades will focus on one’s ability to find the most productive use for the block. Suggestion from the administration include going to the vending machines, making snowmen during the winter and re-watching
the Wednesday Weekly. Strangely, doing homework and meeting with a teacher were nowhere to be found on their list of suggestions. As for the students who partake in clubs that meet during the block, the administration has decided that, despite the few legitimate uses of the block, like preparing for a concert tour to Ireland, the block should not be used for clubs but rather for the student body to accomplish nothing for forty minutes, just like what they would do at home. Non-supporters of the block’s added time mention that extending student’s necessary time at school will force them to simply not attend the block, with which no attendance is taken. However, the administration feels that the pure excitement surrounding the block will encourage students to stay for the entire duration of the period. Students looking to meet up in order to study, work on projects or have a few minutes with friends before sports start will be unable to do so, since only after a few hours, the sports department has announced that Block 9 will be the official start time for all sports. This reduces the current changing time allotted of around thirty minutes to the typical time between classes: five minutes.
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NEWS AND COMMUNITY
PC turns Kurtz center into Parking Garage Jordyn Schwartz, ‘16 After five years, the home to Penn Charter’s vibrant arts program, the Kurtz Center, will officially be knocked down over the summer in order to construct a much-needed parking garage. Although the 650-seat theatre with a sprung floor, orchestra pit, and hydraulic lift was APRIL2012 recently builtNEWSPAPER in January• of 2010, the parking controversy plaguing Penn Charter’s administration forced Dr. Ford to establish a center for parking.
“An architect met with a group of twenty students, faculty, and administrators to sketch a design of the parking garage.”
Penn Charter hired esteem architecture firm “Chauncey Nicodeemus & Sons” to complete the plans for the new parking garage.
In a Meeting for Business last year, the current Juniors and Seniors vocalized their ideas on parking in order to come to a consensus on how to solve this critical issue. Ross Wood, the Student Council Clerk, explains that, “Although
the current seniors and I will not be at PC when the parking garage is built, we all believe that another space for parking is necessary to resolve parking conflict.” Several weeks after the Meeting for Business, an architect met with a group of twenty students, faculty, and administrators to sketch a design of the parking garage. The next step is to tear down the Kurtz Center at the end of this school year so the garage is on campus by fall 2015.
“Students will no longer have to battle it out with their peers for the last parking spot in the lot.”
Parking off campus has posed many issues for student drivers. For example, parking on Coulter and Fox Street forces students to make the strenuous five minute trek to the Upper School. Due to this walk, students have slipped on ice, resulting in critical injuries, and have been late to class. With the construction of a parking garage, students will no longer have to battle it out with their peers for the last parking spot in the lot. Mindy Bernstein, a
Junior and student driver, explains that, “I have to wake up extra early just to get a spot in the lot and most of the time I’m already too late.” Next fall, all student drivers will be able to arrive at PC at 8:09, get a parking spot, and make it to class by 8:10. In addition, tearing down the Kurtz Center proves to be the much “greener” option for PC. The Kurtz Center won Gold certification in the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Program due to its many environmentally conscious features, such as the use of recycled materials and a green roof that provides additional thermal and sound insulation for the building. In spite of this, the new parking garage will promote even greater environmental awareness by increasing the number of cars driven to school, which further increases the pollution in the air. Although the construction of a parking garage comes at the cost of tearing down the Kurtz Center, it is in the best interest of the Penn Charter community to replace the new 650-seat theatre with a 650-spot parking garage. Student drivers, set your alarm clocks back because there will always be a spot waiting for you in the garage next year!
PC WINS “BEST InterAC Restroom Facilities” For 2014-2015!
Kolby Kaller, ‘16
Penn Charter is proud to announce that on top of all of its recent achievements, including an outstanding production of Hairspray and numerous athletic accomplishments, the school has recently been awarded the title of Best InterAc Restroom Facilities. For the third consecutive year, The InterAc Sanitation Control Committee (IASCC) convened in late February and decided that Penn Charter’s restrooms best exemplified the ideal high school bathroom. The categories that judges take into account are: location, functionality, and ambiance.
“[One] point was deducted because the judges noticed the slight inconvenience students face with the restrooms located the furthest possible distance from all classrooms.” PC won a 9 out of 10 for the location of its restrooms. The only point was deducted because the judges noticed the slight
inconvenience students face with the restrooms located the furthest possible distance from all classrooms. However, the inconvenience was almost completely overlooked due to the excessive number of restrooms in use; the building boasts an entire two bathrooms for each gender. PC’s bathrooms received an even higher score of 9.7 out of 10 for their functionality. The girls’ toilets flush a consistent sixty percent of the time, an unprecedented standard that left the rest of the InterAc scrambling to catch up. Also noted was that almost half of the time, the facilities are stocked with both soap and toilet paper. Episcopal Academy in particular noted this statistic with surprise, unaware of the financial budget other schools allot to the upkeep of their restroom facilities. EA concluded that the only way to afford such a luxury would be to dim the lights in their bathrooms to an unflattering yellow glow, to which an anonymous Penn Charter authority retorted, “We would never force our students into such an unsatisfactory condition.”
“The environment of the bathrooms was what truly blew the competition out of the toilet water.”
While the location and functionality of Penn Charter’s bathrooms were lauded by the IASCC, the environment of the bathrooms was what truly blew the competition out of the toilet water. The boys’ bathroom in particular impressed the judges with its soothing chirps from domesticated crickets and its detailed murals on display. The IASCC did not overlook the piece of pie that had been thrown at Jeff Woo, a previous Penn Charter student who now attends Stanford University, still stuck to the molding ceiling. It is the small details in its facilities that inspire PC students each day to work their hardest, and a piece of Stanford pie is the perfect example. Penn Charter will display the goldplated toilet trophy until April 6 in its beautifully refurbished L1. Students and faculty alike should be proud of the achievement, but they should remember to appreciate the other potentially overlooked aspects of the PC community. One proud student commented, “The bathrooms in the high school are so amazing, I just wish they’d redo the Kurtz Center bathrooms to look that nice!” The IASCC ranked PC’s bathroom this past February with near perfect marks!
EDitorials Ben Szuhaj, ‘15
In defense of Senioritis
3 Unfortunately, due to a “doctor’s appointment,” this Senior was unable to write this article for this edition and will, instead, be writing it for the next edition.
ENTERTAINMENT
GUESS THE PUZZLE!
Use your amazing crossword puzzle skills to predict the clues AND solve the puzzle. Remember -- no googling, it’s most certainly cheating in this rule-less game.
NEWSPAPER • APRIL2012
Down
2. ________ 3. _________ 5. _______ 7. _ 8. _________ 9. ___________ 11. ________ 14. ____________ 17. ________ 18. ___________ 20. ________ 22. ________
Across 1. ________ 4. _______ 6. _________ 10. _________ 12. _______ 13. _________ 15. ________ 16. __________ 19. _________ 21. _________ 23. ______________ 24. ____________ 25. __________
Common Sensless
Comics written and drawn by Emmet Foley, ‘17
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