The Roundtable | October 6, 2016
Owen's Opinion The Junior year adjustment
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here was an obvious stigma around school dances during the 2014-2015 school year: They aren’t cool, and if you go, you aren’t either. This message, among others, led to the first dance of that year being a complete flop, with less than 50 people from the two high schools showing up. The small showing and mediocre night only further instilled the feeling that dances weren’t fun, they were a waste of time. People would rather go to a privately-organized party than attend a stigmatized school-organized event. The next year, then-junior Michael Tellini was student body president. Tellini made a vow that he would bring dances back to life, and he delivered. Ever since Tellini took office, dance attendance has significantly increased and numbers have continued to rise. Just last Saturday night, both schools showed up in droves for the Homecoming game and dance as school spirit was high and hearts were happy. This is a stark change from the year before, when the dance was attended by primarily underclassmen. The number of students from each grade level showed a commitment to the community and a desire to be a part of it.
The concept of community lives deep within the roots of the Sacred Heart Network, residing within the fourth of five Goals, “the building of community as a Christian value.” But, to some, being part of a community is not cool. Being part of a community stifles their individuality. Such ideals have become rudimentary in what some have come to know as the “stereotypical teenager.” With a new wave of underclassman joining the community, combined with the relatively enthusiastic upperclassmen, the school is experiencing a change. Dances are “cool,” and as the word “cool” itself is being redefined as people seem to care less about what that definition is. It is vital that we continue to push the acceptability of dances within our school, because if we do not, we may slip back into our old ways and squander our newly-acquired unity.
He Said She Said
Which subjects benefit from being coed/single sex?
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Candice Weinman Class of 2018
focus a lot better in single-sex science and math classes, but in arts classes and computer science I think it's better to have a coed class so that I can get a guy’s perspective.
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Seth Eislund
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wo years of all-boys classes on an all-boys campus to seven weeks on two campuses in almost all coed classes has been quite the change. I was not quite sure how I felt about having five classes at Convent for the first time, just as I was beginning to grasp the concept of high school as I headed into my third year. I knew it was going to be different from my experiences as an underclassman, and I wasn’t sure if I was excited for the changes to come or wishing to replicate my experiences of the past two years. In the all-boys environment of Stuart Hall, I had grown into an almost artificial sense of confidence. I was never afraid to speak my mind, wear what I wanted, and be exactly who I wanted to be. But coming into my first Blue day, where I spend the entire day at 2222 Broadway, I decided it might be better to be less outspoken, less Owen. I would be more subdued and make sure that I didn’t rub anyone the wrong way.
SHHS.Roundtable
Class of 2018
ersonally from having gone to a coed K-8 school, I don’t really notice that much of a difference in any class whether it be single sex/coed. The environment seems to stay the same for me. I believe that having experiences from both genders can be helpful in all classes, no matter the material.
Owen Fahy
Editor-in-Chief
Staff
But this quiet demeanor made me feel just as uncomfortable as if I had been myself from the first day. So I stopped being some other person with a quiet disposition, and reverted to the only way I knew. Saying what I felt, doing what I wanted, and trusting that my personality would be more popular than my contrived exterior. Unsurprisingly, the way I was treated in this new environment was not very different from the way I was received at the Octavia campus. In hindsight, I am not surprised because both campuses are filled with like-minded individuals who share a common set of values. A campus filled with predominantly girls may feel a little less like home than the light green hallways of Stuart Hall, but what makes a home is not the walls and floors, but the people contained within it. We may wear different uniforms, play for different sports teams, or write for different newspapers, but we’re all still a part of the same community. Gender differences can be awkward and dramatic, especially in the single-sex environment where coed experiences are about as common as the summer sun in San Francisco. But as I look forward to these last two years of my education, I no longer see it as an intense coed experience, but as an opportunity to be a part of a greater community and affect those outside of just Stuart Hall.
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SHHS.Roundtable
Stuart Hall High School | Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco 1715 Octavia St., San Francisco, CA 94109 Mailing Address: 2222 Broadway St., San Francisco, CA 94115 roundtable.sacredsf.org | 415.292.316
Owen Fahy | Editor-in-Chief Nicholas Hom | Associate Editor-in-Chief Christopher Cohen | Managing Editor Nicholas Everest | Editor Anson Gordon-Creed | Senior Reporter Eric Mai | Reporter Maximilian Tellini | Reporter Owen Murray | Reporter Sam Jubb | Reporter Sean Mendiola | Reporter
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Elisa Ternysck Class of 2017
would rather have all classes be coed because it's interesting to have different views shown especially in English and history. It's interesting to have different opinions. I don't think guys affect how I learn.
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Max Depatie Class of 2017
ath is better learned in a single sex environment because it isn't opinionated. Classes that are opinionated benefit from a coed environment because adding girls to the classes adds another layer of opinion or discussion.
Tracy Anne Sena, CJE | Adviser Unsigned pieces are the opinion of the editorial board. Rewiews and personal columns are the opinions of the individual author and are not necessarily those of Stuart Hall High School or Schools of the Sacred Heart. We encourage letters to the editor. The Roundtable may publish independant opinion pieces 300 words or fewer. The editors may work with writers for clarity and to meet space limitations. All letters must have a means for verifying authorship before publication. Corrections and letters may be addressed to the editors at roundtable@sacredsf.org