THE BOLT (September 2013)

The BOLT September 2013

20402 Newport Coast Drive, Newport Coast, CA 92657

Volume 13, Issue 1

Grows

By Joelle Nanula Executive Editor Another year, a new beginning. As the 2013-2014 school year kicks into gear, Sage Hill School welcomes back the old and ushers in the new, promising to make this a year of change and growth. For starters, this year’s freshman class is the biggest class in Sage history. At 128 students, the newest grade on campus is making Town Meeting more momentous, lunchtime livelier, and giving the campus a whole new vibe. Administrators are calling it the “perfect storm.” The admissions office didn’t anticipate that every admitted student would attend, but the result has been a newly busy, energetic atmosphere that has made Sage more dynamic than ever.

Sage

Up

Sage has also taken on a new project this year: making school a safer place. Dean of School Life Jon Poffenberger has never been forced to regret the freedom he grants his students. In years past, seniors have shown immense respect for their off-campus lunch privileges, keeping a long-lasting record of safe driving and punctuality (for the most part).

However, Poffenberger reminds us, safety is not just about dealing with a crisis once it occurs. The only way to ensure students’ safety is to keep them out of compromising situations in the first place. For this reason, the senior lunch tradition has been abolished. Although they complained at first, Sage seniors barely miss the old tradition now, because it has been replaced by a new one; enjoying lunch together as a class in sunny Wilkins Town Square,

knowing that Pick Up Stix will still be waiting by the time the weekend rolls around.

The driving force behind Sage’s new security plan is its fearless leader, Victor Rocha. Rocha once worked for law enforcement in the Los Angeles area, where he came into contact with many cases regarding school security.

After leaving LAPD in the 1980s, he started his own business developing emergency preparedness plans for independent schools. He now travels all around the country implementing his security programs. According to Rocha, Sage barely needs his help.

“Sage was in very good shape when I got here,” Rocha says. “Other schools will have a one-page security manual that says, something happens, head for the hills.”

Despite the relative safety of our

hilltop sanctuary, Rocha still sees room for improvement, and has found ways to make it even safer. He directs traffic in the morning to make sure the busy drop-off scene does not erupt into chaos. He has also introduced a new system of identification in which all faculty and staff must wear green lanyards, stating their name and that they are members of the Sage Hill community. All on-campus visitors must wear lanyards as well.

“We’re looking for students to point out if there’s someone on campus that doesn’t belong here,” Rocha explains. The lanyards also double as a way to recognize an adult trained to handle an emergency. “If you need help, look for the green.”

In light of the increased security and the ballooning size of the student

Story continues on School Life

2

SCHOOL LIFE

Setting the Standard for Campus Safety

By Becky Lynskey Staff Writer

NAME TAG: All Sage faculty and

staff members must now wear name tags, certifying that they belong on campus. The quickly identifiable green lanyards make them easy to spot. Visitors to Sage must also wear name tags. This new identification system ensures that no unwanted visitor can enter campus unnoticed.

PARKING PROGRAM. With Vincent Rocha directing traffic and the new parking pass system in place, comings and goings in the Sage parking lot are safer and more efficient than ever.

In the parking lot, green rectangles can be seen hanging from every rear view mirror —numbered parking passes.

Construction is underway sooner than expected for the new Lisa Argyros and Family Science Center thanks to countless generous donations. With construction of this scale, there are issues with increased presence on campus, security and identification.

Consequently, for the first time ever all students, faculty and staff

are required to have parking passes.

“Sage Hill was in very good shape when I got here,” said Victor Rocha, Founder and Managing Partner of Nelson Security Solutions, LLC, whose job is to improve security and emergency preparedness programs for independent schools.

“What they [Gordon McNeill, head of school, and Diane Shank, chief operating officer] wanted me to do was to understand the culture here, to understand that when it comes to school safety and security

Sage Grows Up continued from front page

body, it is appropriate to say that Sage is changing. Most students agree, however, that the essence of our campus culture is as “sagey” as ever.

More students means more people with which to share ideas and create new traditions. An updated security program means a safer environment in which to learn.

As the modern world grows and evolves, Sage adapts, but we never lose the heart of who we are.

Perhaps a more accurate statement, then, is that Sage is growing up.

Like a teenager resolving to stay true

to herself as she hovers on the edge of adulthood, Sage is maturing into a safer place, while maintaining the close-knit, open, community feel that makes our school so special.

Rocha agrees. His ultimate goal?

“To understand the culture here,” says Rocha. “To understand that when it comes to school safety and security, you can’t just twelve-foot fence it and razor-wire it and armed-guard it.

There have to be other ways.”

Judging by the way Sage has continued to thrive, he has had no trouble finding them.

we can’t just 12-foot-fence-it and arm-guard-it—there has to be other ways,” he said. “ Instead of being reactive, we are working on proactive things such as getting out the word to all the students.”

One way for the administration to, in Rocha’s words, be “proactive versus reactive” was via the new parking pass system. Seniors Catherine Mai, Allie Fudge and Keewon Nam reacted wlargely with indifference toward the new safety feature.

“It makes me feel like I’m a part of the community,” Mai said.

The parking passes are tools for identification for students meant to increase safety on and off campus.

Although not all react positively to them, it cannot be disputed that the Sage Hill administration is attempting their best to provide paramount security and safety to students and faculty alike.

“The more students and people on campus, the harder it is to keep track of everyone. If we didn’t have the passes it would be more chaotic,” said senior Janve Sobers.

AED: Automatic Defibrillators are

located all around campus. Unlike most schools, which are lucky to have one defibrillator on campus, Sage Hill has twelve. Students at Sage can feel assured that no matter where they are on campus, help never more than a few paces away.

PARKING PASS: The new secu-

rity program has tightened up the parking lot scene, making comings and goings more efficient. One of its chief features is the parking pass. All student drivers have registered their cars with Dean of School Life Jon Poffenberger, and have hung parking passes in their front windows to show it.

OPINION/EDITORIAL

3

STAFF EDITORIAL

Gifts that will keep on giving

When the Sage Hill School Development office throws a party, it goes all out. Students, faculty and donors enjoyed Periodic-Table-themed cupcakes, glossy cardboard presentations and alumni-built architectural plans during the official unveiling of the Lisa Argyros and Family Science Center.

The school has exceeded the fundraising goal by more than half a million dollars, raising $8,030,919 to date. The Argyros Family Foundation gave $2.5 million to push the Campaign for Innovative Learning over its proposed limit.

On Sept. 12, the Sage community gathered in Wilkens Town Square for a special Town Meeting to acknowledge these gifts. Gordon McNeill, Head of School, Christy Marlin, chair of the Board of Trustees, senior Erika Lynn-Green and trustee Vicki Booth each spoke about the potential of the new building and the enhance-

ment to the Sage educational brand.

Lisa Argyros presented a symbolic check to McNeill and senior Jack Williamson, student body president, who posed for the media along with the extended Argyros family.

More than 100 donors contributed to the Campaign for Innovative Learning, and it is fitting and proper to recognize this generosity.

When the Science Center opens for the 2014-2015, the new space and equipment will provide for exciting new curricular and extracurricular offerings and an expansion of already-popular courses like Scientific Research and Marine Science. Moving forward, the school must continue to use these gifts to focus on the teachers who work so hard to provide us with the finest education possible.

For more information go to www.sagehillschool.org/sciencecenter

Image credit: Catherine Mai

Good is not good enough

By Tiana Lowe Co-Editor-in-Chief

High school journalism.

Sounds boring, right? We’re just the kids who write about stuff that you already know and put it in a paper that nobody reads and whatever half-hearted scrawls we forget to put in our papers, we shove in the annual end-of-the-year picture book, otherwise known as the yearbook.

Wrong. For the 2013-14 school year, we have thrown out the old model, and we have redesigned the structure of the “Fourth Estate” (the media) to accommodate the modern world and the confines of our City on a Hill.

This year, Publications Staff, colloquially known as “Pubs,” offers the Sage community three mediums of communication. The Bolt Online (lightningboltonline. com) features news on a daily to

hourly basis and takes advantage of the speed that print journalism cannot offer.

Stories that would be outof-date in The Bolt, like sports scores, Town Meeting announcements, construction notices, car crashes and even wonderful moments of Sageyness, are updated on The Bolt Online within minutes.

The Bolt, our print newspaper and second avenue of communication, can now focus on more thought-provoking commentary, opinion pieces and features since The Bolt Online can now give you the Who, What, When, Where and How that every story needs.

The Sage Hill Storm, the official appellation of the yearbook, continues the momentum of the progress that it did last year under the direction of Publications Staff Adviser Konnie Krislock.

Last year’s yearbook set a nationwide record for the earliest submission of every deadline and

Publications Staff hopes to expand upon that progress with more advanced coverage, riveting photography and a more developed theme that continues through the entire yearbook.

Erika Lynn Green and Tiana Lowe, senior Co-Editorsin-Chief, lead the Publication Staff ’s creative and intellectual vision.

Junior Michelle Min spent a large part of last summer pioneering and executing The Bolt Online and serves as its executive editor.

Senior Joelle Nanula manages the day-to-day operations of The Bolt as the executive editor of this publication.

Junior Nellie Hamadani, executive editor of Storm, designs and arranges the yearbook’s coverage.

The entire staff is organized by junior Hawken Miller, the managing editor for Publications Staff. The energetic students with

Publications Staff

Co-Editors-in-Chief: Tiana Lowe ‘14 and Erika Lynn-Green ‘14 Executive Editors: Nellie Hamadani ‘15, The Sage Hill Storm Michelle Min ’15, The Bolt Online - Joelle Nanula ‘14, The Bolt Managing Editor: Hawken Miller ‘15 Photography Editor: Emily Shimano ‘14 Section Editors:

Academics: Claire Goul ‘15

Arts: Namita Prakash ‘16

Online: Kellen Ochi ‘15 and Amelia Tanner ‘16

Seniors: Maddi Bukaty ‘14

cameras running around campus and posting to the Sage Hill Instagram are led by senior photo editor Emily Shimano.

We’re not scared of innovation. We’re not scared of pushing buttons. We’re not scared to put your voice on display. Forget what you thought you knew about journalism and get ready for the future, brought to you by Publications Staff.

Sage Hill Publications Staff contact information: www.lightningboltonline.com 14lowet.publications@ gmail.com 14lynngreene.publications@gmail. com www.facebook.com/SageHillSchool @sagehill

Sports: Maddy Abbott ‘15 and Kavi Sakraney ‘14

Student Life: Kristin Saroyan ‘16

Underclassmen: Ingrid Dickinson ‘15 and Bailey Super ‘15 Staff:

Elizabeth Alvarez ‘15 - Cindy Choi ‘16 - Meg Crade ‘14 -

Megan Diaz ‘14 - Claire Dwyer ‘16 - Tess Hezlep ‘16 - Kiana

Jodeiry ‘14 - Selin Karaoguz ‘15 - Rebecca Lynskey ‘14 Catherine Mai ‘14 - Kandis McGee ‘17 - Halland McKenna ‘15-

Stephanie Min ‘17 - Brittany Murphy ‘15 - Jackie Nam ‘16 Celine Wang ‘16 Publications Adviser: Konnie Krislock

FEATURES

4

New Teachers, New Faces I guess you could call him one lucky guy.

Bill Dupuis, the new Chemistry and AP

When mathematics teacher Elisabeth Orr left at the end of the school year, students and faculty alike feared the void that the loss of such a communicable, charismatic teacher. Luckily,

Joe

DiOrio has brought innovation and enthusiasm to the

community as the newest member of the Math Dept.

“I try as much as possible to break things down into basic terms while explaining the rationale behind such abstract concepts,” DiOrio explained his approach to teaching math.

“I like to talk about ideas and abstract concepts. I always liked the challenge of math. It was not easy for me, because I was not a math whiz by any means,” he said. “I think I just sat there longer than anyone and finally understood it.”

A part of DiOrio’s way of making math accessible to all students is his novel use of Canvas. DiOrio, who was born in Long Beach and attended Los Alamitos High School, posts all of his lectures there keeping his students in the loop.

“I really like Sage’s schedule and how much time there is in the day to relax and be present,” DiOrio said, noting the difference between the school he taught at for eight years in Sonoma County and Sage.

“The aspect of community is very appealing,”he said. “I’ve already done a couple workouts with SageFit. And I can’t wait for spring to help out with beach volleyball.”

DiOrio, working on his masters in math at CSU Long Beach, has already made plans to incorporate his passion for music and surfing in the Poetic Surfing seminar during Spring at Sage.

By Tiana Lowe Co-Editor-in-Chief “I’ve known about Sage Hill since the opening 13 years ago. I remember hearing when the school first opened and I’ve been following the news surrounding it since,” new English teacher

Lori Smith

said.

Smith comes here from Aliso Niguel High School and is enjoying her first month as a Sage faculty member.

What strikes Smith about Sage are the unique qualities not found at other Orange County schools, she said.

“I like the small class sizes Sage offers because it allows me to have more discussions with my students and really connect with them,” Smith said.

Discussions are only part of Smith’s goals. She is not only concerned about her students grasping the material taught, but also helping them growing as individuals.

“One of the most important things for me as a teacher is giving my students [sophomores and juniors] the tools necessary to find their voice and for them to develop the confidence to use that voice not only in my classroom, but for the rest of their lives,” Smith said.

“I want them to apply the skills learned in my class and use them in their everyday lives.”

By Brittany Murphy Staff

Chemistry teacher, is a new addition to the Sage Hill staff who taught at Tarbut V’Torah for almost 16 years.

Dupuis explained that his new place at Sage is “great opportunity not just for me but for my kids,” both of whom are beginning their journeys at Sage Hill this year, His daughter Julia just started her freshman year, and his son Nicholas transferred as a junior.

“I have to say I’m a bit spoiled,” Dupuis said about coming to Sage with the advent of the Lisa Argyros and Fmily Science Center.

After having followed in the same daily routine at his previous school, suffice it to say, Dupuis will embrace the fast-paced culture of Sage.

By Jackie Nam Staff

Dr. Nisha K

wanted to be a teacher. Gr Jersey, she benefitted from bers being very academic friends’ parents, who were her a love and appreciation however, that she began to might pursue for the rest o Undergraduate school f issues of American culture earned her PhD in Americ and present-day America social science, while work years at USC. Her work as teaching.

From there, she taught like Science at Technology American Women’s Films And now, Kunte finds h professor, Kunte enjoys th Sage offers, and the oppor before those formative col She has spent years teac to college. “Now, I like see it happens,” says Kunte.

Involved in theater sin

Hanson is more th

departments. Filling in for teaches Arts Survey to fres ater II. “I’ve been teaching since setting,” Hanson said, “and certainly been getting to kn to finding the right balance Hanson attended Colora graduate and California St graduate work and was int her cousin-in-law, Amy Ra “I was born with a hip d theater because I couldn’t p readiness to overcome diffi her work.

“I love playing highly ch challenge.” A few of her fav Peter Pan, Wanda from Ba Mockingbird.

Several other things this mountains, hikes and wedd frozen yogurt and loves sp found in the arts building e vated students new skills a

FEATURES

5

s

Flipped

Classroom

Kunte didn’t always know she

rowing up outside Princeton, New m a college-town ethos and rememas a child. Time spent with her e all professors and academics, taught on of learning. It wasn’t until college, o consider academia as the path she of her life. found her studying visual arts and e, race, gender, and class. Kunte can Studies, a perspective on historic that merges the humanities and king as a Teaching Assistant for five s a TA opened her eyes to the joy of

a variety of culture-based classes, y in Society at USCD and Asians at UCI. herself at Sage. After years as a college he intimate classroom experience that rtunity to interact with young people llege years. ching students who have just gone off eing students at that moment before

By Joelle Nanula Executive Editor of the Bolt

nce she was 9 years old,

Tannis

han an adequate addition to the arts r Chris Marshall this year, Hanson shmen along with Theater I and The-

e 2002, but never in an academic d so far my favorite part of it all has now the students.” She looks forward e between academics and the arts. ado State University for her undertate University Long Beach for her troduced to Sage Hill School through ay, Physical Education Dept. chair. disorder, which is how I got into play sports,” Hanson explained. Her fficulties is evident in her passion for

harged, greedy characters. I love the vorite characters include Peter from aby Dance, and Mayella from To Kill a

s theater aficionado enjoys are the ding cake. She has a weakness for picy tuna and sushi. Hanson can be enthusiastically teaching her motiand techniques.

By Elizabeth Alvarez Staff

It’s 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, you’ve got a math test tomorrow and a feeling of anguish sets in— you have no idea how to do any of the problems in front of you.

Of course, you may have simply procrastinated with your homework or neglected to go to conference because of other commitments or social distractions, but whatever the reason, here you are. Completely screwed.

Or potentially, you are a conscientious student and for some reason you just can’t get it right and you feel like your life is over.

Anyone who hasn’t experienced this kind of academic stress or pressure at a rigorous high school like this one is lucky; they are a rare breed. For the rest of us, especially us more English and History inclined folk, math and science can seem like relentless nightmares from which we will never wake up.

Many a student will get home, open up a math/science textbook, go on Facebook, glance at math/science homework with dread…from here the cycle is predictable.

It doesn’t take a genius to see that something is wrong here in the ongoing cycle of math-mares and problems that give students panic attacks in the middle of the night.

How can we fix it?

Derek Carlson, Mathematics Dept. chair and Geometry and AP Computer Science teacher, thinks he has a solution. Observing the stress of the students in his AP Computer Science class, Carlson decided that he needed to make a change.

“The homework was very hard for them to do on their own,” Carlson remembered. “I wanted to be there to help them work through ‘bugs’ because only one thing has to go wrong to stop the assignment from working.”

Carlson devised putting his lectures online and letting students do their homework in class, a kind of “flipped classroom” gaining popularity especially with math and science educators. This flipped classroom provides students with extra resources on homework problems they may have trouble working out on their own.

“I’ve been using the flipped

classroom system for six years in computer science,” Carlson said, “and it has worked fabulously. It makes computer science a much more relaxed classroom environment. We are planning to implement it in Geometry next year and use it to engage students in a more dynamic learning environment in class with games and homework help that allows more one on one time between teacher and student.”

Other teachers including AP Physics and AP Music Theory teacher Chris Irwin, have also implemented the flipped classroom approach which has many potential benefits for students with different learning styles.

Visual and Auditory learners are especially aided by the online lectures, as they can pause and rewind the lecture if they miss something or are slower to understand a certain concept. In addition, students aided by kinesthetic learning will benefit immensely from the more interactive classroom environment because they can gain extra practice, in addition, by playing interactive games.

“For the top students, online lectures won’t have much of an effect,

because you can just give them a book and they’ll learn the material,” Carlson said with a gentle smile. “But for those students who struggle a little more, or that are slower learners, there will likely be extremely positive results. I’ve already seen positive results in my computer science class in which all the students passed the AP exam last year. There will always be someone who wishes they had the live lecture, but I have a lot of free time in class. It just depends on whether or not students take the opportunity.”

So geometry haters rejoice!

Science-shy folks, your revolution has begun. The flipped classroom could potentially change the way we are educated at school in general. While certain languagebased classes may still necessitate the classic lecture and discussionbased style of learning, the way science and math courses are taught here could be fundamentally changed.

But who knows; maybe the student who one day sits and goes on Facebook, instead of tackling his math homework, will go on to be one of the great scientific minds of the 21st century.

DEDICATED TEACHER: Derek Carlson always makes time to work one-on-one with his students, and is the beloved tutor of many Sagers.

ARTS

6

Campus Connects to Local Newspaper

By Tiana Lowe Co-Editor-in-Chief As Sage grows up, our influence expands from just our little Hill to around the Orange County.

One of the most revolutionary aspects of this change is the recently established relationship with the OCRegister, the fifteenth largest circulation daily newspaper in the United States and one of the only papers with a growing reporting staff and outlying bureaus.

Because of the unique vision of Freedom Communications owners, Aaron Kushner and Eric Spitz, the paper has become integral to small businesses and unique communities of the county, including Sage Hill School.

This summer, I got the opportunity to intern at the OCRegister.

Yet this was no cliched get-coffeefor-the-boss internship; this was a real foray into print journalism. I discovered activity in the county that I did not even realize was there. From gondola rides to gay rights rallies to mosques to Disney’s D23 Expo in the Anaheim Convention Center, I really did get to see it all.

Luckily, the growing demand for OCRegister content has allowed them to keep me on for the year, giving the campus another gateway

to community exposure.

All of this is not to say that this is the only way Sage’s influence through the Register is growing. Over the summer, junior Claire Goul, Publications Staff academics editor, had an OCRegister feature about her studies at MIT and her concurrent running career.

Senior Jack Williamson, student council president, on varsity basketball since his freshman year, was also in a piece about his notable interdisciplinary accomplishments. A July story featured the exploits of junior photographer Parker Reposa.

Another innovative way we have connected with the OCRegister is through the newly launched OC Varsity Arts Saturday section.

Senior Alexandra Bollman, a talented writer in English classes and a performer in the Studio, will act as the liaison between the Studio and the OCRegister, working with Mary Robinson, producer of community programming, to publicize performances in the Black Box Theatre on a community-wide level. The OCRegister will, we hope, use photography from alumnus Max Davitt’s father, Randy Davitt.

Sage’s growing coverage and uniquely influential student body just goes to show—you can leave the Hill, but luckily for all of us, the Hill will never leave us.

PUBLICATIONS PRINCESS Senior Tiana Lowe, publications staff’s co-editor-in-chief, attends a Disney exposition as an OC Register intern.

PROPS TO KRUHM Guest Director Brandon Kruhm and sophomore Sydney Lake, tech crew’s stage manager, bring out props for an Aida rehearsal.

Artists, guest director tackle the classic Aida

By Namita Prakash Arts Editor Elton John and Tim Rice may never have imagined that their musical, Aida, would fall into the hands of able and adept guest director, Brandon Kruhm, here on campus.

His vision for Aida is not only to recreate the world that the author imagined, but also to surpass the expectations for Studio presentations this year.

“In dreams, where you are and who you’re with changes suddenly and inexplicably, and that’s what we’re trying to recreate in the show,” Kruhm explained.

Mary Robinson, theater teacher and producer of community programming, invited Kruhm to come to Sage as a guest director knowing he had a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Adelphi University in New York.

“I was very happy to accept, and to have the opportunity to work at such a great school,” Kruhm said.

Although Kruhm’s true passion is acting, he has a directing history at several theaters and academies including the Paragon

Theater and Denver Center Theater Academy in Colorado. As he continues his professional career here in Los Angeles, he compliments Sage Hill for its proficiency.

“Sage students behave like professionals, and I respect them so much for their ownership of their choices,” Kruhm said.

The cast of Aida appreciates the opportunity to work with Kruhm who is primarily off-campus and to embrace the challenges he throws at them while at the same time leaning on his support.

“It’s great having a new perspective on theater at Sage from an outside source and from someone who is a really talented actor himself,” said senior Sydney Endicott, who plays the title role.

Kruhm acknowledges the wide spectrum of opportunities Sage students have before them thanks to the theater program.

“I grew up in the arts myself, and the confidence, communication and collaboration skills I learned through the theater are incredibly useful in every aspect of my life,” Kruhm said.

7

SPORTS

Tape and Empathy

N

Story by Brittany Murphy ‘15

Staff Writer

Photos by Emily Shimano ‘14 Photo Editor

“Trainer Meaghan has done so much for me,” junior cross country, track and field, and equestrian o matter the injury or sport, trainer Meaghan team member Rebecca Fudge said. “She helped me Beaudoin has it covered. with my IT band all of last [track] season, and she Icing and taping have become second nature to nursed my ankle back to health after I rolled it. She’s Beaudoin over her years as a health management cowonderful at what she does.” ordinator and certified athletic trainer, and this multiWhat makes trainer Betasking woman has seen almost every injury. audoin stand out the most, “I was hired as a certified athletic trainer to help and however, is her dedication. rehabilitate athletes, but I’m also a health management Every day she gives her all coordinator, so I’m also in charge of all the forms and to ensure every athlete’s success on and off the field or court, and works long hours to help keep everything running smoothly for Sage’s athletic department.

Balancing her usual work with dozens of people needing her in a span of 30 minutes after class or after practice can be extremely stressful, but Beaudoin makes it seem easy. To her, it’s just an average day at the job she loves.

Beaudoin has high hopes for all of the Lightning athletic teams this year and is preparing for the fall season varsity sports entering CIF in October and November. She also looks to the future and is eager to see what it holds. administrative work,” Beaudoin said.

Before coming to Sage in 2010 as a certified athletic trainer, Beaudoin worked for the Anaheim Ducks and was the first female athletic trainer in the National Hockey League. Today, you can find her all around campus, supporting the sports teams or in the training room helping one of the many athletes under her care.

“One of my favorite parts about the athletics program at Sage is how perceptive the athletes are,” Beaudoin said. “I can explain injuries sounding professional, which wouldn’t happen at other schools. I’m able to treat our athletes like adults.”

And that she does. The trainer not only helps “With Sage Fit gaining popularity, I think a lot more Sage’s athletes when they have injuries, but also teach- students will join an athletic team and be in overall es them how to prevent and take care of future injuries. better shape, leading Sage’s sports teams to more sucThe athletes notice Beaudoin’s work and are extremely cess,” she said. “I’m excited for the future of Sage’s grateful for all that she teaches them. athletics.”

8

SPORTS

Dropping back, Junior Quarterback C.J. McCord (2) prepares to hand the ball off to Beau Roth. Offensive lineman Winston Sun (75), Daschel Grammar (77), and Jack Bick (56) protect the quarterback in Sage Hill’s 38-7 win against Fairmont Prep.

W

A Rebounding Year

ith a revamped offense, a plethora of talent and a buttoned down defense, Sage Hill beat Fairmont Prep and Escondido Charter, evening their 2013 record to 2-2 as of Friday.

They play Classical Academy on Ramer Field Friday 7 p.m.

Last year was tough—Sage Hill football ended with a 0 - 10 record. Fortunately, this year already holds a brighter future for each of three varsity coaches with different impressions of 2012.

J.R. Tolver, head coach and boys’ athletic director, looks to the future and beyond, doing away with his so-called “demons of our past.” Believing this year would be different, he was pleased that by this week in the schedule, Sage had two wins.

Tom Kirchmeyer, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, accepts the fact that last year brought no results. However, he is also willing to “reload and go back to old ways.”

Zeb Smithson, offensive and defensive line coach, said attitude was the reason for last year’s outcome and that outcome was the impetus for “a wake up call and attitude change.”

Now that players, coaches and the community have accepted last season as a fact, it is time to move forward. “The football team is bigger, faster and stronger,” Tolver put it plainly.

By Hawken Miller Managing Editor

Players athletically gifted have stepped up, ready to contribute to an accomplished season. C.J. McCord, Beau Roth, Will Burns, Vince Whetmore and Jack Bick have filled the void left by seniors.

Tolver explains that in order to have success one must “do away with all insecurities.”

Kirchmeyer knows for a fact that achievement is not always easy and “success can only be achieved through hard work.”

If the team is to function at all, it is to function as a complete team. “If the individuals play closer as a family, they will play a lot better as a team,” Smithson believes.

Coaches during the offseason worked on a more specific plan to make this year a year to remember.

Quarterback protection is on Smithson’s mind when he coaches his players, stressing the basics while, at the same time, engraving the idea of protecting junior quarterback C. J. McCord.

“One small lapse in judgment can cost games,” he repeats over and over again. Equally important is getting the ball to the right people.

At the end of the day Tolver wants the players to remember that the team is a family, and a family is supportive of one another.

It is one thing to come close to winning games, but another to actually win them.

The rebounding year for football also applies to the junior varsity, who have already made an impact with their 2-1 record.

Freshmen and sophomores, including David Dewey, Alfonso Corona and Caden Sheetz, have contributed to a reinvigorated team replete with quickness and agility.

Like the year before, injuries have shortened the depth chart. C.J. McCord, Kieran Mital and Miles McCord have all left games with concussions, A key sophomore, Robbie Rosoff, started at quarterback in McCord’s place against Econdido Charter and threw for three touchdowns and 180 yards during the gam.

As the team says: “1 for 11, 11 for 22.”

From the players ...

I am proud of what was done,

but there is still a long way to go. I have learned that I can trust the people next to me. We are going to have a great season this year. ~Will Burns

T

o be a good athlete, you have to be able to turn off your brain, let things happen, adapt to situations without thinking about it. If I want to pursue sports, I must trust my instincts. ~Robbie Rosoff

I

learned how to be less of a systems quarterback and learned how to play football without worrying about each play. ~C.J. McCord