December Issue 2008

The Review

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID HOUSTON, TEXAS PERMIT 9081

The Official Student Newspaper of St. John’s School Vol. 60, Issue 5

2401 Claremont Lane; Houston, TX 77019 | http://sjsreview.net | review@sjs.org

INSIDE: The Review shadows Mr. Allman for a day around campus. pg. 8

December 2008

SJS to lose two leaders

KATHERINE CARMICHAEL | The Review

KATHERINE CARMICHAEL | The Review

By STUART DICKERSON After 19 years at SJS, Assistant Headmaster Mark Reed will be leaving the SJS community to work as the Head of School at Charlotte Country Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Beginning July 1, 2009, Mr. Reed will work at Charlotte Country Day, the tenth largest independent school in the nation that boasts a student enrollment of nearly 1,600 from kindergarten through 12th grade.

In an e-mail statement sent to faculty and alumni, current Headmaster John Allman and Chairman of the Board Bob Graham said that the announcement of Mr. Reed’s departure is one they have “been dreading to write for nearly two decades.”

“It is absolutely impossible to overstate the positive impact Mark has had on SJS since his arrival here as a part-time coach in 1989, and it is equally impossible to list all the ways in which he has made a difference in the lives of students here,” Mr. Allman and Mr. Graham wrote.

Several schools have contacted Mr. Reed in recent years with offers, but he has more often than not expressed that he is not interested. “I enjoy where I am, and I enjoy what

Index News...........................2 Opinions.....................5 Features.....................7 Photo Spread...........10 BeyondSJS................12 Sports......................14 A&E.........................17

I do, and that remains true to this day,” Mr. Reed said.

When offered such a high position at CCDS, Mr. Reed did not treat his options lightly.

“The decision I’ve had to make over the last two weeks has probably been the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do,” Mr. Reed said. “I feel like for the last 19 years I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the best and brightest students, faculty, trustees and parents in the United States. So to think about change was really daunting.”

The stress Mr. Reed felt due to the decision has been enormous. Leading up to his decision, Mr. Reed had only managed two to three hours of sleep each night.

“I just couldn’t imagine leaving this place, and being somewhere other than St. John’s,” he said.

Since receiving the news last week, the school community has been overwhelmingly supportive of Mr. Reed’s decision.

“Selfishly, we all wish we could keep Mark and other phenomenal educational leaders here forever, but a school of our educational preeminence should expect its leadership to be courted by great schools across the nation,” Mr. Allman See REED p. 2

John Allman, Mark Reed announce departures

By LILIANA VARMAN After serving as Headmaster for 11 years, John Allman announced that he will leave SJS to work at Manhattan’s Trinity School. Mr. Allman broke the news to the School Board on Nov. 21, and SJS parents received news of his departure through an email sent by Chairman of the Board Bob Graham

on Monday Nov. 24.

Mr. Allman said his decision to leave was a difficult one to make.

“It was a choice between two appealing opportunities: staying and going. It was hard. I am very happy here, not restless at all, but it seemed like a potentially unique opportunity, personally and professionally,”

he said.

Mr. Allman first heard about the opportunity in early fall of this year, when he was contacted by Trinity via a search firm.

Although Mr. Allman said he had received several such contacts in the past, the one from Trinity was the only one he has ever considered.

See ALLMAN p. 2

Field Hockey wins SPC title

By ALEXA CARRASCO On Saturday, Nov. 8, the varsity field hockey team made history, winning its first SPC championship game in over twenty-five years against last year’s reining champions, Hockaday.

Starting the tournament off with a close game against Greenhill, which the Mavericks won 10, they proceeded to win a decisive victory over Casady, 2-0. With the first two games behind them, the girls advanced to the championship game, which they just barely fell short of last year.

Having previously played Hockaday, the field hockey team knew what to expect: an intense game that would probably go into overtime and strokes. With this experience behind them, “We had a lot of pressure, but I feel like our whole team was incredibly composed all of SPC…we didn’t go into any games thinking ‘oh, we are going to win or oh, we are going to lose.’ Hockaday, obviously because they had won last year and had had two really decisive wins before playing us, was a little nerve racking, but the team really held it together,” captain Kelley Harrison (’09) said.

Dan Havel featured at MFAH SJS art instructor Dan Havel exhibits the latest sculpture in his “Trespass” series. page 19

Kings of Clubs

Photo courtesy of Angela Clarke

After a scoreless seven on seven full field and sudden death time had expired, the five strikers and goalies from each team took the field.

See FIELD HOCKEY p. 14

Winter sports preview

Diverse new student Sports enthusiasts may get clubs focus on a variety of interests. up to speed on the upcoming season. page 7

page 15

2

news The Review

December 2008

Freshmen go on Camp Cho-Yeh retreat Peer Leaders and faculty members help facilitate class bonding activities

By SHEILA NEWAR For the first time in SJS history, the freshman class went on a three-day retreat to Camp Cho-Yeh in Livingston, Texas. They left after school on Thursday, Nov. 13 and returned late afternoon on Saturday, Nov. 15. Camp Cho-Yeh is a Christian sleep-away summer camp with rope courses and horseback riding.

The entire ninth grade class went on the retreat, as well as about 30 seniors who served as peer-leaders and many of the freshman teachers.

The journey to Camp Cho-Yeh took an hour and a half, and on the way there, the buses were split into boys and girls and arranged by cabin.

“My bus sang songs, talked and enjoyed having electronics. We could bring iPods, cell phones and also candy and gum,” Alexis Bailey (‘12) said. The only restrictions on electronics were that computers were not allowed.

On the way home kids were not assigned buses, so girls and boys could sit together.

When they arrived at the campsite, the freshmen immediately went to their cabins to drop their bags. “The cabins were very nice and every cabin had air conditioning, heating, bathrooms and showers. The camp was clean and everything looked new,” Jared Lichtarge (‘12) said.

“I think we found around four or five roaches in our cabin, but we learned to conquer our fears and kill them. Other than that, they were nice cabins,” Kait-

lin Bahr (’09), a senior peer leader, said.

The first night was packed with activities such as a fair with snow cones, arm wrestling, music and bean bag tosses.

They served sloppy joes at dinner, and after dinner, a speaker came to talk about how he mastered his Tourettes syndrome through the use of magic.

“He was inspirational in the sense that he talked about achieving his goals, and the difficulties he had to overcome,” Lichtarge said.

After listening to the speaker, they went to a hill on the campsite where “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” was projected onto a screen, and they watched the movie under the stars. After these nighttime activities, the students returned to their cabins for a 12:30 a.m. bedtime.

The activities for the next day were divided into three sections and consisted of horseback riding, kickball, Rage in the Cage, Frisbee, dodge ball, low and high ropes, soccer, basketball, kayaking Katherine Carmichael | The Review and other team-building exercises.

Freshmen lounging around and enjoying the sun on Saturday before getting “Low ropes was one of my favorite activities, especially the challenging maze ready to pack their bags and leave Camp Cho-Yeh we had to go through,” Bailey said.

Meals at Camp Cho-Yeh varied from “All-in-all, I had a really great time on Bahr said that he favorite activity was Rage in the Cage, a game similar spaghetti and sloppy joes for dinner, the retreat. It helped us bond because we to dodgeball, but played in an enclosed to eggs, sausage and hash browns for got to talk to people we normally would not talk to. The one improvement I area. She said that she least enjoyed breakfast.

“The food was in stark contrast to the would make is a later wake-up call; sev“kayaking in the poo water.”

“While some of the activities seemed gourmet SJS cafeteria food, but not un- en a.m. was a little too early when you went to bed at two a.m.,” Bailey said. immature and insignificant, I think that acceptably so,” Lichtarge said.

“My favorite meal was breakfast; they “This trip should definitely become a they all worked to help us overcome sohad really well-seasoned eggs,” Bahr tradition, but it would be more approcial boundaries and make new friends. priate and effective [if held during] the Overall, I liked all of them,” Lichtarge said.

The freshmen returned exhausted but first or second week of school. Besides said.

The second night consisted of a talent with a new sense of appreciation for being earlier, it should be a day longer, but otherwise it was pretty good,” Lichshow and a showing of Kung-Fu Panda. their ‘unique and united’ class.

“I am really glad I got to go as a peer targe said.

The talent show was a huge hit; there Bahr said, “I think it really helped the was a senior dance to “Disturbia” as well leader; it was worth going through peer as a teacher skit and other freshmen orientation in June,” Bahr said. “I want- grade bond as a whole. I wish I’d had the ed to go because I had never seen many opportunity to do this with my grade performances.

“The talent show was sweet and really of the freshmen. Plus, I love camping,” when I was a freshman.” she added. entertaining,” Bahr said.

continue working on initiatives in SJS’s strategic plan. “[Trinity is] a wonderful school In the strategic planning proin a wonderful place, and you cess, the Board, the School’s can imagine that the opportu- administrative team and the nities personally for my family SJS community all engaged in and professionally for me would a collective process to create a be wonderful as well,” he said. “shared agenda” for improving Trinity’s New York City loca- the school. Mr. Allman said that tion was an appealing aspect of these agendas can and ought to the position. “The opportunities move forward without him. for our family are different in “I don’t think that changing NYC. The opportunities for con- the Headmaster will change nections between classrooms the agenda in the Strategic and the world beyond the class- Plan. I think the Board will room are different [there], and try to make sure that whoever that is part of what intrigues comes in works on implementme about the the Strate“All the essentials are right, ing position,” he gic Plan,” he and the loss of one or two added. added.

As of now, people can’t change that.”

Although Mr. Allman the position of - Headmaster John Allman said he is unInterim Headsure of what master has yet impact he will make on Trinity, to be filled, Mr. Allman said he but his main goal is to help one has no knowledge of what the of the strongest schools in the selection process to replace him country become even stronger. will be. However, he said he is “I’m not bringing to Trinity optimistic about the future of a template for improvement or SJS. a blueprint for change. I’m try“SJS is a phenomenal place ing to help the Trinity commu- with many incredibly talented, nity find ways to take a really dedicated people working tofine school and make it better. I gether to make it hum. When think such a process is different I arrived at SJS in August 1998, for each unique school culture. the Headmaster as well as the It’s about engaging people in Heads of Lower, Middle and meaningful conversation about Upper School had just left. what they would like to see the This isn’t the first time that the school become and then trying School has witnessed several adto realize the community’s aspi- ministrators leaving the School rations,” he said. simultaneously. Change can Mr. Allman stressed that his produce anxiety, but SJS will departure, however, will not continue to thrive. All the esslow down SJS. From now un- sentials are right, and the loss of til his final day as Headmaster, one or two people can’t change he said he and the Board plan to that.” he said.

ALLMAN cont. from p. 1

REED cont. from p. 1 and Mr. Graham wrote. “We are so, so proud of him.”

Yet the entire process has been full of emotions that can only be evoked by the enormity of the impact it will have on our community.

“When some of the faculty and alumni found out, they came by my office, and we shed many a tear,” Mr. Reed said.

“Telling my advisory might have been the toughest thing I’ve had to do.”

“There have been so many tears over the last day or two, and it’s just been really hard,” he added.

Mr. Reed started his tenure at SJS as a part-time coach 19 years ago and has since served as the teacher of an Economics class, Head Coach of the Upper School Golf teams, advisor, Dean of Students and Assistant Headmaster. He has served as many other things that do not receive official titles, such as a mentor, friend and member of the community who helped make this school what it is today.

As captain of the girls’ golf team, Hannah Smith (‘09) has had an opportunity to know Mr. Reed for several years.

“It will be a huge loss for the school [when] he leaves. He always demanded the best from [the golf team],” Smith said.

Although Smith regretted Mr. Reed’s departure, she laughed and said that she would always remember the funny moments that she shared with him. “He

would always make a total fool of himself when he played golf with us. He would make these bets with us and pretend that he could never lose … but then he always did,” Smith said.

Smith feels that Mr. Reed brought a lot to the school.

“I think we will lose the best administrator from [SJS]. The faculty and students really love and respect him,” Smith said.

“I was upset when I found out that Mr. Reed was leaving because he is a really awesome teacher,” Lizzy Palmquist (‘09) said. She is currently a student in Mr. Reed’s third period Introduction to Economics class said.

According to Palmquist, one of Mr. Reed’s defining characteristics was his teaching style.

“He is really casual in class and I really like how he ties everything from the textbook into the current economic crisis,” she said.

Palmquist said that the school would not be the same without Mr. Reed. “When he’s gone, the school will lose the essence of Mr. Reed. He always has a positive attitude and really cares about his students,” Palmquist said.

In addition to being a student in Mr. Reed’s economics class, Will Harrel (‘09) is also a friend of Mr. Reed. At the end of the 2007-2008 school year, he would visit Mr. Reed frequently. “One time in particular, I spent over an hour in his office discussing topics from affirmative action to Tiger Woods to Barack Obama to the

economy,” Harrel said.

Although Harrel said that he was sad about Mr. Reed’s departure, he was also hopeful that SJS will bounce back. “In addition to the loss of Coach Reed’s administrative talents, the school will be losing someone who has great relationships with students. St. John’s will lose a great teacher, but it is a strong enough school to be able to survive this loss,” Harrel said.

Charlotte Country Day has expressed immense pleasure with their Head of School to-be.

“We are delighted that Mark has accepted our invitation to lead Country Day as we continue to offer our children the best possible educational and growth experiences,” Watts Hamrick, CCDS’ chair of the search committee, said in an online statement.

“We believe that Mark has the right experiences and perspectives, the proven professional commitment and leadership, and the personal qualities to serve and to lead Charlotte Country Day School exceptionally well,” Mr. Hamrick said.

Though the void left by Mr. Reed’s departure is irreplaceable, this decision may have in fact been inevitable. Mr. Reed is extremely grateful to the entire SJS family, one he regards as his own.

“I love my students, I’ve loved the faculty, they’ve been extremely supportive,” Mr. Reed said. “My time with students has been so valuable, and it’s the thing I’ll miss the most.”

news

3

December 2008

SJS server malfunction causes network failure Simultaneous crash affected e-mails, H: drives and school air conditioning system

By JOE MARTINEZ SJS was recently affected by the failure of multiple servers, a malfunction that crippled electronic communication and paralyzed the technologies that allow the campus to run smoothly and efficiently.

Specifically, four separate systems crashed simultaneously, causing the school network failure. The first crash was the result of an important part of the main server chassis failing, resulting in the email accounts, H:drives and the Internet to go offline and become inaccessible.

Students and faculty were the most affected by this particular failure, as many students could not reach or save work that was electronically stored and teachers had trouble using their overhead projectors for lectures. Also, students and teachers were unable to email their fellow students and colleagues.

The second event that occurred was the failure of the voicemail server’s hard drive, which took out both the ability to reach voicemail and the ability to receive incoming calls. Additionally, random phones and computers were unable to access IP addresses, which made placing calls and reaching the internet difficult.

Though some outgoing calls could still have been made, no network phone within the school would have been able to receive it.

Finally, for reasons still unknown, the air conditioning control system broke down, resulting in AC units all over campus to fail, which raised the campus to uncomfortably high temperatures.

Even though so many servers went down, there were only two vital pieces of equipment that were actually malfunctioning.

“The reason that it seemed all systems were affected was because the timing of everything happening at once. [Also,] equipment affected was all used by students and teachers in their day to day lives here at school,” Director of Technology Jeff Ritter said of the incident.

POOJA SALHOTRA | The Review

Director of Technology Jeff Ritter checks up on the system wires for the school To protect the school from another electronic blackout, replacement parts have been ordered for the server framework. The reason SJS was even affected was due to the fact that there was no backup part on which the network could depend on to function as an auxiliary measure.

The server chassis has redundant parts for everything except for one defective component. Mr. Ritter said the school has asked IBM to both replace the faulty piece as well as provide a redundant back up part for it.

The technology department said it feels prepared in the event that a similar failure were to occur, since this latest incident has taught them what should be done to solve the problem more efficiently and get everything running again.

“The real question is ‘What would be done if another failure unrelated to this happens,’ and in that case, we hope we have continued to improve the redundancies of our equipment on campus so that we can continue to run while failed parts are replaced,” Mr. Ritter said.

Repairing of the systems moved quickly though, with IBM sending an employee to help replace the failed parts. Furthermore, a temporary server was established so that phone and internet functions could be reestablished until a replacement part was shipped.

The technology staff became aware of the failure right before the wide-spread outage due to the erratic behavior of the voicemail system, although the AC problem was a “complete surprise,” Mr. Ritter said.

“I will say that I have never had so many pieces of unrelated equipment have problems to the degree we did in my 15 plus years working in schools. It just doesn’t usually happen this way. Especially after having everything off for almost 10 days during Hurricane Ike, we thought that was the time we would have problems,” Mr. Ritter said. He added about the system crash, “We don’t believe any of this can be attributed to the fact that the entire network was off for 10 days or so during Hurricane Ike.”

Anatomy & Physiology class observes heart surgery Class visits blood banks at St. Luke’s and watches Dr. Frazier conduct surgery

By TIFFANY SHYU On Thursday, Nov. 13, Anatomy and Physiology teacher Laurel Johnson took her Anatomy class to visit St. Luke’s Hospital to observe a surgery that lasted from 8:30 a.m. to 12:15 pm.

Reservations for this trip were scheduled in August a year before the date of the surgery.

A trip to view surgery usually consists of two parts. During the first part, the students spend most of their time watching the surgery, and for the remainder of the time the students go to the blood bank.

“The trip is usually [the students’] favorite part of the course,” Ms. Johnson said. “I think it’s another way to learn from other than diagrams and drawings and specimens,” he added.

This year, the Anatomy and Physiology students viewed a heart valve repair surgery.

The students were led to an observation dome that consisted of 360 degrees slanting glass over the surgical room. The students spent approximately two hours in the first observation dome watching the valve repair.

As the surgery was going on, a docent was explaining what was happening.

The surgeon performing the surgery that day was Dr. Bud Frazier, who is well-known in

his field. The patient was a 79year-old male who was getting a mitral valve replacement and had gotten the same surgery before.

“Our guide told us that [Dr. Frazier] had done more heart surgeries than anyone in human history, so it was a special treat,” Ethan Edmondson (’09), a student in the class, said.

“It’s like Grey’s Anatomy except real and minus all the really hot actors,” Shanice Beasley (’09) said about the trip.

Though the students did not get to see the actual heart repair, they were able to see the opening of the chest and the preparations.

“He had a lot of scar tissue and they were literally hacking through all that [stuff],” Beasley said.

“It was so unreal,” Elizabeth Windham (’09) said about watching the preparations of the patient. “We had to leave before the actual repair started, but I wish we could have stayed longer,” she said.

After watching the procedure of cutting open the patient, the students were able to see the patient’s beating heart. “You see this whole heart just there, beating, and it’s like, ‘I have that’. It’s incredible – incredibly bizarre,” Beasley said.

Abigail Hook (’09) echoed

these sentiments, and said “[The opening of the heart] was the most fascinating event while we were viewing.”

“The chest was literally cranked open … to expose the heart,” Hook added.

Overall, the students said that they found the trip to be rewarding, and they felt that they learned much from it. “[What I got out of it] is a little closer look to knowing what it would be like to enter into a medical profession and just getting to see how that kind of stuff works and operates other than seeing it on TV,” Beasley said.

“Seeing it live gives you a

perspective on how your body works and how miraculous it is that we walk around talking and we don’t think about all the stuff happening inside,” she added.

Windham, who is planning to enter a medical profession, said she felt she got a realistic view of what surgery is all about.

Starke, who wants to be a physician or a doctor, commented that the field trip just solidified her desire to become a physician. “[The surgery] was so awesome to watch. I loved the whole trip,” she said.

Edmondson said that even though he has seen operations

performed by his father, a neurologist, he said found this surgery to be “most exciting.”

“So besides a cool story, I got a new perspective on surgeries,” he said.

About her experience on the trip, Hook said, “It’s all good and well to learn about the cardiovascular system in class, but to see it working adds a whole other dimension.”

She added, “Seeing live interaction between the many people in the room…gave me a valuable feel for how such professions function. The whole experience was truly eye opening.”

Photo courtesy of Laurel Johnson

Ms. Johnson’s Anatomy and Physiology class had the opportunity to take a group trip to St. Luke’s Hospital. The students pose next to a plastic skeleton in the classroom.

4

news

December 2008

College Board removes HurricAID to assist Ike victims three AP tests

By SAMUEL DUNN

Cancellation not to affect SJS curriculum

By TIFFANY SHYU This past spring, the College Board announced that it would no longer continue offering three Advanced Placement (AP) exams. The exams being canceled are AP Computer Science AB, AP French Literature and AP Latin Literature.

These three tests will still be in working to the end of the 2009 school year, but starting in 2010, the exams will be completely removed from the possible AP exams that may be taken.

A press release by the College Board stated that they were doing away with these courses because they were smallervolume courses and because of lack of educational funding for the non-profit-organization.

Beginning in May 2010, only the AP Computer Science A exam will be offered. However, the College Board stated that it still encourages schools to teach the AP Computer Science class.

Because of these changes, the only exam offered for AP Latin Literature as of 2010 will be AP Latin: Vergil. However, the Collegeboard states that “No sooner than May 2011, we will strive to offer a capstone AP Latin Exam experience that provides teachers with an appropriate spectrum of Latin texts, and as much choice as possible.” The AP French Literature exam will be completely removed. In respect to the AP language exam cancellations, the College Board stated in its press release, “It is…advised that schools not reduce the total number of years of study in French or Latin to fewer than the number currently offered.” Thus, the Col-

lege Board said it encourages schools to continue providing their language courses despite the elimination of the AP tests specific to the class.

These cancellations will affect the SJS academic sphere to a certain degree, though there are alternatives that are being discussed and planned.

“Their decisions will [not] dictate what our curriculum will be,” Academic Dean Ann Louise Hagerty said in response to the AP course cancellations.

She added, “In each of these three cases, there are other AP exams that can be taken.”

“We need to make the distinction between the College Board’s decisions and our decisions,” she said.

SJS students in the Latin Literature AP class currently take the exam that does not focus on Vergil. Also, SJS Computer Science AP students originally took the AP Computer Science AB exam instead of the AP Computer Science A exam. As a result, Mr. Jeff Ritter, who teaches that class, said he is in the process of planning a” richer” Computer Science class.

“Two years down the line from 2010 to 2011, the College Board may incorporate a bit of computer science AB into the A exam, French Literature in the Language exam and Latin Literature into the Vergil Exam,” Dean Hagerty said. “The news is more what is going on in New York,” she added.

Even though the cancellation of these AP classes will not have a huge impact on SJS academics, Dean Hagerty said, “How [the cancellations] will affect our classes exactly is something that we do not know yet.

SJS will determine the curriculum decisions at a later date “when we have figured out our students’ interests,” she said.

She added, “Our decisions don’t have to be predicated by the College Board. We want what is best for our students.”

SJS graduates return for Alumni Fun Day

By SHEILA NEWAR Along with “Dress Like Kinkaid Day”, the outdoor pep rally, the Kinkaid/ SJS football game and the homecoming dance, Kinkaid Week had one more event, Alumni Fun Day, taking place on the day of the homecoming dance, Nov. 1.

Alumni Fun Day is a carnival for alumni and faculty children as well as the entire Lower School community. This carnival features different booths such various crafts, snow cones and Moonbounce games.

“Alumni Fun Day is a great way to include younger members of the SJS community during Kinkaid Week,” Sarah Koslov (’10), one of the event coordinators, said.

The event itself was held at SJS on the Lower School playground and Skip Lee field.

James Coney Island catered the event and provided hot dogs and tator tots for lunch.

The theme for the day was Pink Panther, and the Lower School spent the whole week

prior to the annual Kinkaid/ SJS football game finding clues from Upper School Math teacher Kimm Schafer as to what the theme for the event would be.

Ms. Schafer along with Alumni Coordinator Mandy Nebeker were the faculty sponsors; they ordered everything that was necessary for Alumni Fun Day and came up with the Pink Panther theme.

“Caroline Dawson, Maddie Schaffer and [I] organized a group of volunteers and set up booths. All three of us were project leaders last year as well, for the jungle theme, so we knew what to expect this time around,” Koslov said.

The event attracted many kids as well as numerous Upper School students, who volunteered at the booths. There were two shifts, one from 10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and another from 12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.

“I think the day was a huge success; everything went smoothly and we had a ton of kids,” Koslov said.

HurricAID 2 is a community service project put on by SJS Upper School students. This service project is made up of a bake sale, a silent auction and a talent show.

Auditions for the talent show took place on Nov. 17 and 19.

Some students will perform dances, music or other forms of entertainment. Kantatorei and the band Six-Gun, which is a band made up of SJS juniors, will also perform.

At the previous HurricAID project in 2005 Upper School History teacher and Review Advisor, Kyle Parrish and Upper School Latin teacher Colin Elk took part in a ballet, much to the delight of the audience.

Although the duet will not be taking part this year, project leader Sarah Pendergraft (’10) said, “We will have a special performance which is still in the works.”

The silent auction will take part in the lobby and feature many donations from teachers such as a “Dinner with DiPaolo, Gumbo with Girlinghouse, and a Needle point original by Dr. Raulston,” said Pendergraft.

Some of Upper School Art teacher Daniel Havel’s artwork might be auctioned off, but for the time being, will only be displayed.

The bake sale, with delicious pastries all donated and homemade by students, will also take place before and during the talent show.

This HurricAID project is being run by Pendergraft and

John Allman (’09), who are organizing everything from the silent auction to picking the members of the talent show.

Ms. Bahr and Dance Instructor Aaron Girlinghouse are the faculty sponsors.

The project will culminate Saturday, Dec. 6 at 7:00 p.m. at the Lowe Theater at SJS. The purpose of the this project is to contribute to the reconstruction of Trinity Episcopal High School, a sister school of SJS, after the very successful Ike car wash and bake sale on Oct.

19, which raised $1,065 for the high school in Galveston.

Although auditions were already held for the talent show, there are other ways in which to help out HurricAID 2. For other methods to assist this event, please contact Pendergraft or Allman.

Ms. Bahr said, “I would love to see every student, parent, staff and faculty member bring a friend to the event. Just think how much we could help Trinity Episcopal School in Galveston if everyone pitched in!”

Bret Vollmer | The Review

Max Susman (‘10) and Wiley Fletcher (‘10) play their instruments at the audition for HurricAID

Mr. Zartman prepares Spring Break trip for SJS students Trip includes visit to London, Brussels and Paris

By JOE MARTINEZ This spring break, history teachers Wendell Zartman and Barbara DiPaolo will be escorting students on a tour of London, Brussels and Paris.

The plane from the United States will depart on the evening of March 12 to London and will return on March 20.

The first stop on the trip will be in London, where the group plans to visit locations such as the Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and possibly the Tower of London and the British Museum.

Afterwards, the group is scheduled to visit Brussels, the largest urban area in Belgium.

Plans for sightseeing include the residence of the Belgian Royal family known as the Domain at Laeken, followed by the European Parliament and the Palace Royale.

The last stop will be in Paris, where the itinerary is the Arc de Triomphe, the Notre Dame Cathedral, a visit to the Louvre and Versailles, with one final stop being an evening boat ride along the Seine.

Mr. Zartman, who has been leading SJS spring break trips since 2000, said he believes such trips can be very wholesome and enriching to a student’s learning experience.

“Because [the students] need

to broaden their horizons, I think these trips are a nice fit with what they learn at St. John’s in their history classes, and [are] just a way to learn more about life. I try and take them to places in Europe they ordinarily would not go to with their parents,” he said.

Previous European locations for the spring break trip have included Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Germany, Scotland, England and the Czech Republic.

Mr. Zartman said his favorite location has been Florence in Italy. “It’s so beautiful, it’s really like you are going back in time to the Renaissance,” he said. The general consensus of students agreed and said that although they enjoy every location visited, Italy is one of their favorite places.

“It’s hard to tell [why], but mostly kids really like Italy, maybe it’s the ambience, the culture, or the art,” Mr. Zartman said.

As for the actual trip itself, roughly 20-25 students attend each year, with no particular skew toward any grade level or history class level. “Everyone is excited though, and kids who go are genuinely curious about other cultures and eager to learn,” Mr. Zartman said.

The trip is entirely planned out by a company, and the fee paid to attend covers everything except lunch fare, souvenir shopping and some costs for transportation. Before leaving or after the initial arrival in Europe, students might stop to convert American cash to appropriate currency.

“American currency won’t get you far in Europe, so kids will take credit, debit or ATM cards or stop for conversions at banks. No one has run out of money yet, but there have been high credit card bills,” Mr. Zartman said about spending.

In addition to the required stops, Mr. Zartman added that he invites students to explore a region if there is free time, or the group might stop to sample European entertainment.

“With free time, I like to walk or have the kids walk. You can learn so much by walking around, so if there’s free time, we will go to a certain area of the city and I’ll say ‘For the next few hours or so you can eat in these shops, visit these shops.’ For entertainment, we have done a few special things, for example one year we... had a Scottish dinner with people doing a highland sword dance, and it was pretty entertaining,” Mr. Zartman said.

For future trips, Mr. Zartman said he has considered the possibility of doing something “wildly different” such as a South American trip to visit places such as Machu Picchu, the Incan mountain resort.

15

opinions

Editorial

Seniors given sign-out runaround The process for offcampus sign-outs for seniors this year was initiated by a vote to decide whether to wrap the Quad or to paint a mural and earn sign-outs beginning the Monday after Kinkaid week rather than in January. The majority of the senior class chose the latter, tempted by the administration’s sign-out offer.

In addition to the biased presentation of choices, the administration further inconvenienced students by requiring all forms to be turned in before sign-outs would begin.

The Editorial Board hopes the administration will rethink the voting and implementation processes for senior signouts. Seniors had to wait three weeks to be able to leave even when the first rush of college applications was already due on Nov. 1. This prolonged period could easily be prevented by providing seniors with the sign-out forms at the beginning of the year or at least prior to Kinkaid Week.

Many seniors were stuck at school at the end of the day with nothing to do but be distracted by friends in an increasingly hectic Senior Country.

Sign-outs provide the opportunity for students to go home to do work or other college applica-

tions, catch up on sleep or just take a break. Arguably these are all activities which could be accomplished at school, but as seniors fighting off the incipience of senioritis, they are much more easily accomplished at home.

Also, instead of clearing congestion from a lunch line that could take up to ten minutes of an SJS student’s time, the administration created a system that resembled a slowmoving bureaucracy.

Following precedent, the seniors were only allowed to leave when every single student had turned in a sign-out form. Students who preferred or had to stay in school had no real reason to turn in their sign-out forms and faced no repercussions.

This rule forced students to police themselves and practically stalk students—effectively bypassing the rule preventing seniors to take the list of students yet to turn in their permissions slips or copy down the names— who had not turned in their forms.

The Editorial Board suggests that the school conduct the voting process earlier— if there is a voting process next year— and send out these forms during the beginning of the year so that by the time early

The Review

December 2008

The Review

The Official Student Newspaper of St. John’s School 2007-2008 Editor-in-Chief: Bret Vollmer (‘09) Managing Editor: Rebecca Welbourn (‘09) Business Manager: Allie Adkins (‘09) News Editor Jade Law (‘09)

Features Editor Emily Foxhall (‘09)

Sports Editor Arts&Entertainment Editor Hudson Duncan (‘10) Anoushka Sinha (‘09)

Copy Editor Opinions Editor beyondSJS Editor Leeor Mushin (‘09) Vail Kohnert-Yount (‘09) Liliana Varman (‘10)

Photo Editor Katherine Carmichael (‘09)

Staff Writers Jessica Allen (‘11), Alexa Carrasco (‘09), Gabi Chennisi (‘09), Veronica Chu (‘12), Stuart Dickerson (‘10), Ariana Dickey (‘12), Allegra Fradkin (‘11), Meryl Gibbs (‘12), Caroline Gibson (‘12), Sarah Koslov (‘10), Bagwhat Kumar (‘11), Joe Martinez (‘11), Mariam Matin (‘11), Arvind Mohan (‘10), Anne-Charlotte Profit (‘12), Sarah Nasser (‘09), Sheila Newar (‘10), Andrew Perry (‘11), Tiffany Shyu (‘09), Sarah Windham (‘12), Blake Wulfe (‘10), Melissa Yuan (‘11) Circulation Manager Caroline Parks (‘09)

Advertising Manager Ryan Cordill (‘09)

Promotions Manager Melanie Lilienstern(‘09)

Assistant Manager Lizzy Ehrhardt (‘09)

Business Staff Richard Bilger (‘11), Parker Chambers (‘09), Allie Deluca (‘11), Geoff Dunn (‘09), Christy Lee (‘11), Meagan Longoria (‘10), Phoebe Massey (‘09), Tim McDugald (‘11) Neeraj Salhotra (‘09), William Wallace (‘11), Jack Waller (‘11)

Photographers Jennifer Lewis (‘10), Clay Nickens (‘10), Daniel Perenyi (‘09), Bobbi Richardson (‘12), Pooja Salhotra (‘12) Illustrator Kat Oshman (‘09) Advisor Kyle Parrish (‘01)

As the student newspaper of St. John’s School, The Review provides a forum for student writing and opinion. The opinions (signed) and staff editorials (unsigned) contained herein do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Headmaster of Board of Trustees of St. John’s School. Staff editorials represent the opinion of the paper. Letters to the editor and guest columns are encouraged but are subject to editing for reasons of clarity, space, accuracy and good taste. The Review reserves the right not to print letters received. Either e-mail letters and guest columns to review@sjs.org; give them to Bret Vollmer, Rebecca Welbourn, Kyle Parrish or Leeor Mushin in the office of The Review (Q-210); or mail to Editorin-Chief, The Review, St. John’s School, 2401 Claremont Lane, Houston, TX 77019.

November comes around right after Kinkaid Week, seniors will be able to leave quickly.

The Editorial Board praises the Adminstration for allowing this privilege but believes the process of achieving sign outs could be made much more efficient by providing forms and deciding on the date they start more quickly, thus reducing tensions among those in the senior class.

Letter From the Editor

Dear Readers,

benefits students to take a moment to relax and maybe even reflect.

And what better way to do so than with a copy of The Review. This month readers can learn about Mr. Havel’s artistic exploits at MFAH or Clayton Crum’s (’08) experiences playing Division I volleyball among other stories.

Additionally, be sure to read about changes in the theater department in our A&E section.

Between the stories on HurricAID 2, the second iteration of SJS efforts to aid sister schools in their recovery following a hurricane, and the return of ‘mix it up’ day, nostalgia seems to be a pretty prevalent sentiment in this issue and one I personally share. Now, though I’m not going to begin writing about how much I will miss SJS next year or how working hard ultimately pays off quite yet – I’ll save those topics for second semester – I will say that even at a time as stressful as the lead-up to midterms, I think it

Regards, Bret Vollmer Editor-in-Chief

Letter Policy Letters to the editors and guest columns are welcome but are subject to editing for reasons of clarity, space, accuracy and good taste. The Review reserves the right not to print letters recieved, and all letters must be typed and signed. Give letters, guest columns and classified advertisements to Bret Vollmer or Kyle Parrish in the office of The Review (Q-210) or email to review@sjs.org.

16

MI

December 2008

opinions

U DA X T P Y I

A good idea but poorly executed By ARVIND MOHAN Staff Writer

“Mix It Up Day is an opportunity for kids to ask themselves, ‘Am I in a rut? Do I do the same thing every day?’ and then try to meet new people that they would not usually talk to,” said Upper School Counselor Ms. Pat Reynolds said. But her goals are rarely met. In its current state, Mix It Up Day is not effective.

Usually on Mix It Up, SJS students enter the cafeteria where they are greeted with Chex Mix and a “music mix” in order to celebrate the mixing of different people. Then they are encouraged by Ms. Reynolds and members of the diversity group, FACETS, to sit with people with whom they would not normally sit with or talk to. At the table there are several conversation starters designed to facilitate discussion.

However, Mix It Up Day rarely effects change in student seating patterns. If simply told to “mix it up” most SJS students decide to sit with their usual friends. The goal of the day is for students to expand their horizons by meeting new people.

Since nothing is actually forcing the students to sit with new people, most choose not to mix it up, and the day ends in a failure. Simply asking the students to change their seating patterns will not effective. More steps should be taken.

“If simply told to “mix it up” most SJS students decide to sit with their usual friends. The goal of the day is for students to expand their horizons by meeting new people. Since nothing is actually forcing the students to sit with new people, most choose not to mix it up, and the day ends in a failure.”

In order for Mix It Up Day to achieve its goals, several changes should be made. Students should get handed stickers as they enter the cafeteria with one of several

colors. Then, if each table was marked with one of the sticker colors, the students would have to sit at the tables that were marked with their colors.

For freshmen and sophomores, they can get the stickers as they stand in line and juniors and seniors can get them as they enter the cafeteria. These stickers would probably be more effective in changing student seating patterns because SJS students are generally open to new ideas. Students’ sitting with those whom they do not know well is an important step in realizing Ms. Reynolds’s goals for Mix It Up Day. Next, the conversation starters could also be improved. Several of them are meaningless questions involving favorite colors. It is almost idiotic to suggest that these questions would stimulate conversation and people would bond over having a favorite colors.

This does not mean that those questions should be revoked and removed, but simply that more interesting questions should be added. If they were extended to include specific questions involving pop culture, specific school subjects or even include controversial topics, they might incite more conversation. There have been several times where the conversation starters have elicited no more than a grunt from several people at the table, which is not conducive to the goals.

Mix It Up Day requires conversation among the new

“Mix It Up Day requires conversation among the new people in the group in order for new contacts to be made. If none of the students talk to each other at all, the purpose of the day would be entirely defeated. The situation would be extremely awkward and students would race to finish their lunch and leave.” people in the group in order for new contacts to be made. If none of the students talk to each other at all, the purpose of the day would be entirely defeated. The situation would be extremely awkward and students would race to finish their lunch and leave. However, if the questions were more thought-provoking, the students might be more inclined to speak with each other and create new connections.

Mix It Up Day is an especially important day for freshmen, who have yet to meet the majority of their

classmates. It might be more effective if it took place earlier in the year as opposed to on the national day, which usually falls in November.

“Most students are unaware of the talents, abilities and personalities of many of their classmates. This is mainly because students at SJS or any other school tend to stick with their own group of friends and not mingle as much. Mix It Up Day would provide an effective jumping point for SJS students to meet new people.

Along with the freshmen retreat, freshmen will be able to at least meet new people. Since Mix It Up Day also includes the upperclassmen, new freshmen will be able to meet them as well. As the new students in the school, freshmen might be not inclined to talk to other classmates, particularly those in upper grades. And in the case of new students who do not know anyone at SJS, Mix It Up Day could help them break the ice.

SJS has many interesting students with a wide array of talents. However, most students are unaware of the talents, abilities and personalities of many of their classmates. This is mainly because students at SJS or any other school tend to stick with their own group of friends and not mingle as much.

Mix It Up Day would provide an effective jumping point for SJS students to meet new people. This is especially important for seniors, who might never have talked to several members of their grade and will probably never see those people after high school again.

Although in a smaller school like SJS, most students know the names of all the other students, they might not know each student. Mix It Up Day gives students an opportunity to expand their horizons.

While it might be too idealistic to suggest that Mix It Up Day will dramatically alter friend circles and create new friendships immediately, it has the potential to start a conversation that could, with further care, expand into a friendship. Just sitting with different students will not change things dramatically, but it is an important step. With just a little bit of tweaking, it could actually mix it up.

student thoughts on...

Mr. Allman leaving SJS

JENNY LEWIS | The Review

I will never forget when Mr. Allman told me I was in big BOBBI RICHARDSON | The Review trouble but actually bought me It’s will be strangely Krispy Kream Doughnuts for different without him helping clean the cafeteria. here.

- Mark Kim (‘09)

- Conrad Lozano (‘10)

BOBBI RICHARDSON | The Review BOBBI RICHARDSON | The Review

He’s been here for It’s really sad because so long and done so he has been here for many great things for so long. the school, so I’m sad - Chase Musselwhite to see him go. (‘12) - Meredith George (‘10)

features The Club Scene

7

The Review

December 2008

a look at emerging SJS student clubs SAVG

By BLAKE WULFE

KATHERINE CARMICHAEL | The Review

Kat Club

By SARAH KOSLOV

KATHERINE CARMICHAEL | The Review

People frequently debate whether cats or dogs are the more popular of animals. Recently at SJS two rivaling clubs have developed; however, the rivalry is not Cat versus Dog. The club rivalry is Cat vs.

Kat. Students have taken notice of the signs of cats posted around campus. Originally they appeared scattered around the school alongside other flyers, many with comical statements and labeled by the mysterious Kat Club. After Kat Club made their flyer debut, a different set of students started taping pictures of cats to the wall as well, specifically on the ceiling on the right side of the Quad near the History Department office. The ironic thing is that neither of these groups is school-approved nor has an obvious leader. Furthermore, the mission of either organization remains unclear.

Frequently, students have commented and inquired as to who was posting these flyers and why. Kat Club has a more evident justification: they want to bring cat lovers together. The “Quad-Tapers” are merely posting images of felines but not encouraging student involvement. One can only speculate it is for comedic effect.

The rivalry between these two secret cat societies is, well, catty. Both continue to post flyers, ignoring the other’s existence. Both have used images from LolCats and an array of other kitten images.

My recommendation is that the “Quad Tapers” find a new animal to tape on the wall because cats have already been claimed. This group is simply imitating an already existing, yet technically nonexistent, club. Kat Club, seeing as it initiated and inspired the posting of cat pictures, should work to create meetings and organized events, as to make their group more official. Can’t all of these cat lovers just get along?

This kitty-scandal has potential to divide the Upper School Community: should one support Kat Club or the “Quad Tapers”? The leaders of said organizations should meet and exchange ideas. Some reconciliation is necessary to keep the Cat (or Kat) lovers at this school united.

Entering a room to the sound of “I am now cutting off Phil’s head with a chainsaw” always catches me off guard, but hearing it in none other than an SJS classroom caused me to do a double take.

Voices inside dark headquarters stationed in Q209 emitted a recognizable sound, but not one that students normally associate with school.

A blue glow fell on my face as I entered, and instantly I recognized the origin of the unusual phrase I had heard.

There was no test taking, no learning and no teaching—only video games.

I had left the usually studious atmosphere of SJS and arrived at a place where students frolic in the digital gaming world: a meeting of the Students and Video Games (SAVG) club.

The sound I heard was that of Super Smash Brothers 64 combined with a small amount of James Bond Goldeneye. Students sat, controller in hand, on the usual chair-desk playing on both an overhead projector and on a TV. Darren Napier (‘12), cofounder of the club, said that SAVG was conceived during a brainstorm in the hallowed walls of his third period geometry class where he had thought, ‘Hey, it would be really cool if we had a club where all we did was play video games’ So they did it.

After creating a mission statement and getting it passed by the administration, the students asked Mr. Parrish (‘01) to sponsor their club, and after this short process, their video game club was ready.

The club, which is comprised primarily of freshmen, developed a preliminary schedule for what games they would play each day, but Napier said, “We normally tend to play what people want to.”

The decision of which video game to play introduced the problem of which console they would play that game on, so SAVG decided to include whatever types of games the students wanted.

Napier said, “We play all types of games: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo 64 [and] PlayStation 2. If it’s a game console we will probably play it.”

The club began with Nintendo 64 because it was the easiest to bring, and according to some students, the console’s fun and original games were good because most students know how to play them.

Not all the members of the club share this opinion; however, some students want to expand the range of games the club could play.

Jared Lichtarge (‘12) said, “Some members are really pushing for Xbox 360 games, but I think N64 is the best.”

This disagreement might help make the club applicable to all the students that want to join by expanding the types of games played in the club. This expansion could possibly increase the number of sophomores, or even bring in a few juniors and seniors.

SAVG also plans on creating video game tournaments in the future, which could also help boost upperclassmen attendance.

“The next step for this club is to get people from other grades to come,” Napier said.

And, as I sat there, racing as Yoshi in Mario Kart 64, TK fire being shouted from a TV in the background and green shells racing by, I thought maybe, just maybe.

Book Club: The Cake Chapter

By BLAKE WULFE When was the last time you read a book outside of school? My last one was maybe a Garfield, or, optimistically, a Harry Potter, but members of the book club add onto the heavy SJS reading load with everything from nonfiction to fantasy.

Book Club: The Cake Chapter, named for the homemade cake made by Upper School Librarian Peg Patrick for students to eat at each meeting, developed a few years ago when some students approached Ms. Patrick about starting a book club.

Ms. Patrick said, “We discuss the books that we have been reading, and the books we are looking forward to reading... We decided to meet the day after every holiday. We try to choose a date when there will not be many meetings; that way students will not have a conflict.”

The books the students in the club read vary widely. “We read fiction, nonfiction, science fiction, fantasy, mysteries, thrillers—we just talk about everything,” Ms. Patrick said. These choices are good because it makes the club applicable to a larger group or students, but at the same time, this diversity makes it difficult for Ms. Patrick to choose a book for the club to read as a whole each year.

“Last year, I chose the book and it was not very successful, so this year we are having a lunch meeting off campus to discuss what our book will be in January,” she said.

While the club is meant to provide a venue for readers to discuss books, it also, according to Ms. Patrick, “gives the students information about books they might not have thought about reading, and it challenges them to read a more difficult book than they might otherwise have read.”

KATHERINE CARMICHAEL | The Review

features

8

December 2008

life as the headmaster

Staff writer Caroline Gibson shadowed Mr. Allman for an afternoon to find out what really fills the SJS headmaster’s schedule.

By CAROLINE GIBSON The second graders hang on Mr. Allman’s every word, raising their hands for a chance to speak. Wide-eyed, one of them pipes up in her tiny voice that if she were Headmistress, there would be two recesses a day.

Another exclaims that the track should actually be a pool, while yet another points out that kindergarteners, first and second graders should also be allowed to have chocolate milk with their lunches.

The actual Headmaster listens to each of them carefully, and I am amazed how comfortable the Lower Schoolers are in his presence, how they fight for his attention. But on the other hand, it also surprises me how comfortable John Allman, Headmaster of SJS, is sitting at a cafeteria table of second graders and how exceedingly attentive he is to each one.

Earlier that day I was beckoned into the Headmaster’s office by Marg Trares, Mr. Allman’s secretary. Mr. Allman smiled at me and rose from behind his desk, and thus began my afternoon in the life of John Allman.

My intention was simply to discover what Mr. Allman actually does all day, but little did I know I would find out so much more. With my goal in mind we headed to the Lower

School for our first adventure: lunch with the second graders.

Mr. Allman has already eaten lunch with all the first graders this year and is now working his way up through the Lower School, one lunch at a time. As I watched little girls separate the cookie from the creme of their Oreos and little boys assemble their Lunchables, Mr. Allman asked the table of seven (four girls and three boys) questions ranging from “What is your favorite Thanksgiving tradition?” to “What would you change about St. John’s if you were Headmaster?” They were all eager to answer, smiling and revealing missing teeth, when he asked them to share their answers.

All too soon lunch was over and Mr. Allman made his way slowly back to his office, pausing to say hello to every student and faculty member on the way. The Headmaster then settled into his deskwork, which at this time of the year entails tackling long-term projects such as a student exchange program in Beijing and the recent student climate survey.

On top of these various projects, he is forever writing thank you notes. Many magazines argue that these notes are a thing of the past, but for the Headmaster of SJS, thank you notes

are a worthwhile formality: everyone that helps to make the school the success that it is deserves a personal thank you.

“It’s the right thing to do.

The ninth grade retreat, for instance, was a huge success, so I just got done writing notes to the people who put it together,” he said.

At 1:45 the Headmaster stepped out to grab some Senior Tea; Mr. Allman admitted he always seems to be “grazing” throughout the day. From there we headed through the tunnel again for a Parents’ Guild meeting in the Traditions’ Room.

Mr. Allman described his job as attending to many “odds and ends,” but really his job is being the odds or ends necessary in a situation. The Headmaster must, at one moment, be able to commiserate about the hardships of learning cursive, while thirty minutes later, he must address a room full of administrators and parents with reassuring confidence. Not only does Mr. Allman balance this schedule, but he does so while treating everyone with the same kindness and deference.

The square table in the Traditions Room was surrounded by ten mothers who are soon joined by the most powerful administrators from all three levels of SJS. Mr. Allman chats

CLAY NICKENS | The Review

happily with a few mothers before Head of Middle School Eric Lombardi appears at the top of the stairs and begins the meeting.

Throughout the course of the meeting, mothers and administrators alike express their concern about carpool regulation, the SJS culture climate study, formals, community service, teacher comments, giving gifts to teachers, student email and the cohesiveness of the Kindergarten through twelfth grade student body as a whole. They discuss the success of the ninth grade retreat and the idea of next year without Assistant Headmaster Mark Reed.

Mr. Allman also talked a little bit about the enigmatic “strategic plan” that seems to be mentioned a lot around administrators though no one, including the mothers, seems to know what it is. The “plan” also seems to encompass SJS’s strategy for getting through the economic crisis.

After weathering the meeting in his quiet, cordially quirky fashion, Mr. Allman leaves me with a wave as he strides quickly off to wrap up some more

deskwork.

The over-arching role of our Headmaster in all walks of student life is a unique post. Many of you probably see him walking quickly all over campus, offering an amiable wave or smile as he passes, but other than that you think no more of him.

Despite the fact that you have other things on your mind and what the Headmaster is up to is no concern of yours, maybe you should think of him more, because he thinks of you. The Headmaster thinks of all of us every single day and strives to improve our experience at SJS. When you walk across the newly leveled sidewalks or grab some sushi out of the cafeteria fridge, when the seniors are enjoying their free periods or you check your Facebook while in the computer lab, remember the Headmaster. Without a capable administrator such as Mr. Allman these privileges and gifts would become rare. So, maybe, wave back when you see Headmaster Allman and give him some thanks of your own before he heads to New York.

Keeping Bitterness at Bay: Mr. Elk Overcomes Injury

By SARAH KOSLOV SJS students constantly hear about student sports injuries. It is not surprising to see a peer with an ace bandage around his or her wrist or knee or find out that a friend has been benched for a game due to physical fatigue. Sports have inherent risks, but most don’t consider them life-changing. Furthermore, teachers’ injuries are rarely sports-related. However, Latin teacher Colin Elk has proved himself an anomaly, sustaining an effectively lifechanging sports injury.

Last November, Mr. Elk began to experience shoulder pains which made him uncomfortable during the day and woke him up at night, but he assumed this pain was a result of his rigorous workout routine of attending the gym every day and running three times a week.

One visit to the doctor and an MRI later, it was discovered that Mr. Elk had an encrustation of bone spurs under his clavicle as a result of previ-

ous injuries sustained over the years. Mr. Elk recalls that he has dislocated his shoulder at least twice. These injuries have also caused microscopic tears to the bone.

Mr. Elk was faced with the option to either have surgery in the middle of last year or to stop exercising and wait to see what would happen. Mr. Elk waited until summer to have his sur-

gery so that he would have ample time to recover from it.

Initially, the surgery was successful. Elk said he was in “good shape” after about two weeks.

“I thought I was ready to begin [physical therapy] rehab,” he said. However, after a couple of rehabilitation sessions, Elk began experiencing pain again.

This pain was due to internal bleeding caused by therapy ses-

sions that were too rigorous, and resulted in a hematoma in the shoulder socket.

In September, Mr. Elk needed yet another operation to drain the hematoma because the doctors were worried about the internal bleeding. The surgery required Mr. Elk to completely stop using his arm for six weeks, which he said proved to be a very difficult task.

One week after his surgery, Hurricane Ike hit Houston.

“After the Hurricane, I was forced to use my arm when I shouldn’t have been using it all,” he said.

As a result, the bleeding started again, so the surgery proved unsuccessful.

This ordeal has taken a large toll on DANIEL PERENYI | The Review Mr. Elk’s daily

routine. He can no longer work out or run, so he has developed new hobbies to replace his athletic pursuits. “I have become a crossword puzzle addict,” said Mr. Elk, who does around seven crossword puzzles daily. He has found more time to enjoy leisure activities like reading and watching cartoons. Mr. Elk misses sports and athleticism dearly, but he has high hopes for the future.

Mr. Elk’s classroom is rarely empty; students are often found preparing for Nerd Squad or other student clubs. People enjoy learning from Mr. Elk because of entertaining anecdotes and enriching stories. Although the injury has impacted every aspect of Mr. Elk’s life, he remains an exceptional, dedicated, and funny teacher.

Elk’s out of school activities have dramatically changed from rugby and boxing to reading and crossword puzzles, but he keeps bitterness at bay. When asked what students wishing to avoid these sorts of life changing injuries should do, Mr. Elk facetiously replied, “Don’t play contact sports.”

9

O

December 2008

features

Teatime

n a sunny Thursday in November, Above Left: Senior tea moms Dorothy there stands a long table stacked Vollmer, Kim Tutcher, Barbara Gibbs, Dothigh with pancakes, waffles, tie Carmichael, Sarah Parks, Barbara Foxsausage, bacon and warm maple syrup, hall, Kathy Harrison and Jane Obradovic among other things, surrounded by a pose after serving a Fiesta themed tea. group of ravenous seniors. Amidst all the Above Right: Ms. Tutcher, Ms. Parks and chaos, a few peculiarly dressed women Ms. Obradovic stand watching the seniors. These women, clothed in faded bathrobes, askew serve what they call ‘Senior Tea,’ which is like curlers, and fuzzy slippers, organized the a social interaction with food. It started with whole affair, prepared the food and tastetea and cookies for all seniors once a week. It fully placed the breakfast-themed snack, has evolved to a group of mothers getting toknown to all SJS high schoolers as Senior gether and making a team to serve one of four Tea. days a week per quarter.”

If it weren’t for the mothers who orIf it weren’t for the mothers of the senior ganize Senior Tea, SJS seniors would not class, however, none of this would be possible.

By ARIANA DICKEY have the privilege of continuing the traThey organize, arrange and pay for everything. dition during eighth period that dates Ms. Carmichael said, “It’s a lot of work. We back to SJS’s opening years. have to buy the food and fruit, wash and cut up the fruit, box everything and bring In the early years of SJS, seniors enjoyed tea and crumpets during eighth period it to SJS. And we’re not just serving a small group of people—we have to plan on once a week. Over time, however, the number of days tea was served and the kind serving around 150 people every time.” of food served have changed. Nowadays, seniors get to eat food from restaurants Despite the work, the mothers enjoy this tradition just as much as the seniors citywide four days a week. Also, unlike in past years when tea was served beside the do. Sarah Parks, Caroline Parks’ (’09) mother, said, “Senior Tea is really fun because Mother’s Desk, Senior Tea now takes place in the Quadrangle. the mothers haven’t seen these kids in forever, and now they are essentially adults.

Dottie Carmichael, Katherine Carmichael’s (’09) mother, said, “The senior moms They come up to me to say hi, and I’m thinking ‘wait, who are you?’”

The mothers all agree Senior Tea is a great tradition to maintain. Ms. Carmichael said, “It’s a good time for the seniors to mingle and talk with their friends because it’s a hard fall for the seniors. Tea is a nice break. Also, it’s their last chance to establish their camaraderie as they move on.”

In 2004, a group of mothers wrote to the school and said that Senior Tea was occuring too often. When the administration tried to lower the number of days Senior tea takes place, “all the senior mothers that year said, ‘Oh yes we are!’ They love to do it. They love to come. They love to be part of Senior Tea,” Ms. Carmichael said.

The mothers of the seniors say they do it because “it is fun to think that we’ll make the seniors happy because that’s the purpose of this whole thing. We’re doing it because we want our children to be happy,” said Beth Proctor, Emmie Proctor’s (’09) mother.

One thing the mothers really like is how polite the SJS seniors are. Debbie Palmquist, Lizzy Palmquist’s (’09) mother, said, “The kids were so polite and so appreciative. They ate, said thank you and they even cleaned up after themselves.”

why SJS senior moms are giving it their all

“Senior Tea is really fun because the mothers haven’t seen these kids in forever, and now they are essentially adults. They come up to me to say hi, and I’m thinking wait, who are you?”

- Sarah Parks Another thing the mothers enjoy is the various themes of Senior Tea. Every day, the theme of Senior Tea changes. On Nov. 6, the theme was “breakfast lovers”. “We have a different theme for each of our shift days so the seniors will be anticipating and looking forward to the surprise,” said Ms. Parks.

The “Sisters of Senior Tea,” or the mothers who commandeer the Thursday shift, said they get their ideas from an assortment of different methods. Barbara Gibbs, Julia Gibbs’ (’09) mother, said, “We get together and brainstorm for a while. Also, sometimes we look back into what has been done in past years and we try to reinvent some of the ideas. We try to come up with things we know the seniors will like.”

With so many mothers coming up with so many different ideas, one would think some competition would exist between the different groups of mothers. In reality, the whole system is very friendly and no competition exists. Helen Chambers, Parker Chambers’ (’09) mother, said, “Some of the mothers go way over the top. It just kind of depends on the dynamics of the group.”

Cathy Berkman, Ali Berkman’s (’09) mother, said, “As long as the kids are appreciative of all the different themes, we’re happy. That’s all that really counts. As long as the kids don’t start keeping track of whose mother did what and they are happy with everything they are given, then I think Senior Tea is a really good idea.”

“[Senior Tea] is like a social interaction with food.”

- Dottie Carmichael

10

December 2008

photo spread

THE FOR

Scenes from the fall play

photo spread

December 2008

REIGNER

| Photos by Jenny Lewis

11

12

beyondSJS The Review

December 2008

All photos courtesy of Clayton Crum.

S etting U p SJS alumna Clayton Crum balances Division I volleyball at the University of Texas with a busy off-court life

Above: Crum, a defensive setter for the University of Texas women’s volleyball team, prepares to pass the ball. She was a four-year varsity volleyball letterwinner at SJS and captained the varsity volleyball, soccer and lacrosse teams her senior year. Inset: Crum, in her Longhorn uniform, holds a fanmade sign after a game.

By VERONICA CHU Clayton Crum (’08) first became in- took up the majority of my free time,” terested in volleyball from the bleach- she said. ers. “My sister started playing for this For that reason, time management club, and I would travel everywhere skills have been essential to Crum’s with my parents to my sister’s tour- success from a very young age. “I have naments,” she said. really had to manage my time well by Crum has come a long way since doing volleyball and keeping up with those beginnings. Now attending the schoolwork,” she said.

University of Texas, she balances her Just as high school and sports comrole as a student with her role as a mitments were growing more dedefensive setter on the Longhorn manding, Crum began looking ahead women’s volleyball to her academic team.

“Once I heard the good news and athletic fuAfter watch- back from UT, I knew I was ture. The daughter ing nine-year-old of two Longhorns, going to go there.”

Crum play with the she set her heart on - Clayton Crum ball on the sideplaying volleyball lines, the coach of at UT. She verbally her sister’s high school team con- committed to the UT volleyball provinced her to try out for his club, the gram when the opportunity arose the Houston Juniors. Crum said she was summer after her sophomore year. elated to find out that she made the “I still applied to other schools,” team and committed to playing vol- Crum explained, “but once I heard leyball for the next few years. the good news back from UT, I knew “In fourth and fifth grade, it was just I was going to go there.” something to spend extra time doing Besides providing her an opportusince I wasn’t too busy with anything nity to pursue her passion for volvery serious outside of school,” Crum leyball, Crum said that UT offered a explained. great overall college experience. “I However, the time that she devoted love Austin, and I think it’s a great to practice steadily increased as she college town. There are so many difmatured. “As I slowly got involved ferent things to do,” she explained. in more sports and extracurriculars at In fact, Austin’s characteristic and outside of school, [volleyball]... uniqueness was what made her fall in

love with the city and the school.

Crum said that it’s “weird” not hav“It’s great that Austin is so ‘weird’ ing the same close relationships with because it’s nice to be able to be her teachers like she did at SJS and [yourself] and not have to try to be that she is “still not used to classes of someone else,” she said.

300 plus students.”

However, the transition from the Despite years of playing volleyball proverbial small pond at SJS to the both inside and outside of school, open waters of UT was not all smooth Crum said that no words can “do it sailing. “College is so different from justice of how different it is” playing SJS!” she exclaimed.

Division I collegiate volleyball.

Though Crum said that her years at Crum explained the many “little SJS prepared her well for her life now, things” that are different. “We have she noted some major challenges along three courts to practice on instead the way. “Keeping myself busy with of just one like in high school, and three sports and being a captain of all we have managers who actually parthree and involving myself in other ticipate in practice sometimes,” she extracurriculars helped prepare me said. “We also use about fifteen ball for what I am dealcarts compared to ing with now…but On a typical day, Crum at- the one, maybe it is still so differtwo, carts in high ent,” she explained. tends class for three to five school.”

“I thought the hours each day, practices In addition, Crum or lifts weights with her said, practices are transition from SJS to college would team for an additional three taken much more be easy since SJS to five hours, and then has seriously. “We film is pretty good at our practices every preparing you for two hours of study hall four day…to see what nights a week. college, but UT skills we can imis just so opposite prove on,” she exfrom SJS that I feel I wasn’t prepared plained. We also watch film on every for many different aspects of UT.” single team we’re about to play…so Crum said that her most difficult we will know what plays the other adjustment was dealing with the larger UT student body.

See CRUM on next page

beyondSJS

13

December 2008

N ew Y ork , N ew Y ork !

Photo courtesy of Andrew Sobatka

Two former SJS students reflect on their transplant from the Houston heat to a New York state of mind

By ALLEGRA FRADKIN From seeing Young Fran- fencing. kenstein on Broadway to Andrew, on the other hand, celebrating the results of the was inspired by his school’s election outside 30 Rockefell- emphasis on activism and iner Plaza, former members of volvement to volunteer for the SJS class of 2011 and twin Barack Obama’s presidential brothers Andrew and Corey campaign, and even traveled Sobotka have taken advantage out of state one weekend to of every opportunity in their campaign door-to-door in new home of New York City. Pennsylvania.

Since moving there this In fact, by virtue of being summer, Andrew and Corey immersed in the political acsaid that living in the nation’s tivity of New York City, both cultural capital Andrew and has opened new A number of Corey’s Corey became doors for them peers have inquired active in the to explore their as to whether he rode events surinterests and rounding Noa horse to school passions. vember’s hiswhile living in Texas. toric election.

“New York is a lot more fun Whenever the quesCorey’s interthan Houston as tion arises, Corey re- est in politics far as things the sponds, “Yes, and her was piqued by actual city has a pre-election name is Betsy.” to offer,” Corey mock debate said. “There’s everything you hosted by his school, featuring can possibly imagine to do.” prominent panelists including Though Andrew and Corey political correspondents from had always attended the same CNBC and Fox News. school, upon moving to New Andrew said that one of his York Andrew enrolled at the most memorable experiences Collegiate School, an all-boys in New York thus far was on private school in the center Election Night. He spent the of Manhattan, while Corey evening outside Rockefeller chose to attend the River- Center, where giant red and dale Country School, a co-ed blue ribbons suspended from private school located in the the building indicated the Bronx. number of ballots counted Thanks to the resources and a color-coded electoral available at his school, Corey map of the United States was has been able to pursue his projected onto the famous ice interests in photography and skating rink. As President-

Corey Sobotka, left, and Andrew Sobotka, right, hail a taxi in their new home of New York City.

Elect Obama’s acceptance speech was broadcast on a screen outside the building, thousands of people danced in the streets.

The twins noted that adjusting to the stark differences between their lifestyle in Houston and their new New York surroundings has been both exciting and difficult.

Corey said that he enjoys the freedom of living in Manhattan, where he can access anything by foot or by public transportation. However, the Sobotka twins sometimes have to wait for their respective morning buses in belowfreezing temperatures.

While both Sobotkas said they enjoy the hustle and bustle of worming their way through the proverbial Big Apple, Corey remarked that

life in Manhattan, the city that never sleeps, can become tiring.

“After living here for three months, though, I’m becoming a little weary,” he explained. “I’m starting to miss the quietness of West U.” These lifestyle differences are something that even their classmates are acutely aware of, if a little misinformed. A number of Corey’s peers have inquired as to whether he rode a horse to school while living in Texas.

Whenever the question arises, Corey responds, “Yes, and her name is Betsy.”

Andrew said he also enjoys playing up the Texas stereotypes that he is subjected to.

He wears cowboy boots to school on a daily basis and explained that some of his

friends call him “Colby” because it is the most Texan name they can think of.

Andrew also pays homage to his Lone Star State heritage by cheering against the home team whenever the Astros travel to New York to play the Mets in baseball. He claims he is chastised as the only Houston fan in the crowd.

Andrew and Corey returned to Houston for a visit the weekend of the Kinkaid game and said that they miss the community at SJS. However, as much as they miss their life in Houston, Andrew and Corey said that they appreciate the unique opportunities their new home has to offer. After all, they do live next door to Tommy Hilfiger’s ex-wife.

CRUM: Academics and athletics is a balancing act then has two hours of study hall four come easier in the spring. “I will be nights a week. able to balance the three more equalteam will likely be running.”

With all her commitments, Crum ly in the spring when I’m in offseaCrum also said that college sports are obviously a “much bigger com- said her free time has become in- son for volleyball,” she explained.

Though her grueling schedule is mitment,” with three to four hours creasingly precious. “I pretty much spend the majority of my time doevidence of her love for the sport, of practice four days a week and two ing volleyball or Crum said she does not plan to play games a week with something volvolleyball after college. “Some of the typically only one “Basically, I am almost always l e y b a l l - r e l a t e d , girls on my team will probably be day off. with the 15 girls on my team.

During the sea- We are playing volleyball it like getting in the playing in the next Olympics, but to ice bath every day be realistic, I won’t be that good, unson, the team travseems like all the time!” for ten minutes,” fortunately!” she exclaimed. els to other schools Crum explained.

However, Crum’s future plans are Clayton Crum in the Big 12 con“Whenever I have ambitious.

She is pursuing a Business ferences by charfree time from volleyball, I try to Honors degree and wants to double ter flight. Once they arrive at their catch up on sleep or get schoolwork major in another area. After gradudestination, they eat a pre-game ation, she hopes to work for a nonmeal, play the game and then arrive done.”

For that reason, Crum’s social life profit organization or participate home around midnight. has simmered on the back burner in the Teach for America program.

“Basically, I am almost always with the 15 girls on my team,” Crum re- during volleyball season. “I don’t re- Her long term goals include perhaps starting her own marked. “It seems like we are play- ally have much of a social life right nonprofit organi“I pretty much spend the ing volleyball all the time!” now,” she said, “but zation, though she majority of my time doing Between practices, games and I try to get out and said she’s still unclasses, Crum said she faces considvolleyball or something vol- certain about the erable pressure in balancing Division see my non-volleyleyball related.” future.

I volleyball, college academics and a ball friends when- Clayton Crum ever I can, usually However, Crum’s social life. college experience On a typical day, she attends class any weekend I’m for three to five hours, practices or in town and am not in charge of en- will prepare her well for any future endeavors. Besides skills required on lifts weights with her team for an tertaining a recruit.”

However, Crum said that the time the court, she explained that voladditional three to five hours and management balancing act will be- leyball has taught her many lessons

CRUM cont. from previous page

applicable to life off the court. The team environment has helped her become a “good, effective leader” as well as a good communicator.

Even so, these lessons didn’t come easily, but rather with hard work and dedication to her sport. “I have gone from being a benchwarmer to a starter and captain back to a benchwarmer, so it has humbled me a lot and given me a lot of respect for others and the sport,” Crum remarked.

Ultimately, she said, “The only way

“The only way I can achieve what I want to achieve, in volleyball in particular but in anything generally, is to work hard at it all the time. Eventually things will start going your way!”

- Clayton Crum

I can achieve what I want to achieve, in volleyball in particular but in anything generally, is to work hard at it all the time. Eventually things will start going your way!”

sports

December 2008

SPC Review

By BHAGWAT KUMAR and ALEXA CARRASCO

FIELD HOCKEY cont. from p. 1 With tons of fans and dedicated parents who had spent the whole night making posters watching, strikers Catherine Franklin (’10), Mary Harrison (’11) and Kelley Harrison easily put their shots in, giving the Mavericks a 3-1 lead on strokes.

When Hockaday’s fourth striker and final chance at being able to win the game missed her shot, Maverick goalie Shanice Beasley (’09) sighed with relief.

After three years of varsity experience, Beasley said that she had learned to deal with the pressure placed on goalies. “Every mistake I make could be the one goal in the game that could cause us to lose. After [the game], it was just exciting because you know you’ve done really well for your team; I threw off my helmet and threw down my stick and gloves and just ran out to the big huddle, and everybody was celebrating,” she said.

Of the victory over Hockaday that was decided in strokes, Kelley Harrison said, “I think probably about seventy-five percent of the team burst out in tears when we won; it was the most incredible feeling ever.”

Fellow captain Sydney Collie (’09) agreed with Harrison saying, “Winning SPC this year was perfect; it was the best way to have to end the season and field hockey for us. Last year we came close too, but winning it as a senior and being captain just makes it a lot more special, and I think all the seniors on our team share that sentiment.”

With twelve seniors graduating this year, this memory will remain very near and dear to their hearts as it did to Emma Erwin’s (’11) mom. Erwin,

14

The Review

whose mother was on the last 1981 championship team, feels a new connection to her mother. Erwin said, “It was really cool that my mom and I both got to be a part of SPC championship teams.”

The team, and the captains in particular, contribute much of their success to head coach Craig Chambers who is also known as Cha Cha to the team. Collie said, “Cha Cha is the bomb; he’s a great coach and it really wouldn’t have been the same without him, whether referring to the outcome or the season in general.”

Kelley Harrison seconded Collie’s feelings, saying, “From the time Chambers started coaching our sophomore year until now, it was just incredible to see the progress that the program has taken to finish off our senior year; I was in shock for hours.”

After the victory, the girls were clearly not the only ones who were proud of their victory. As the parents stormed the field and created a tunnel, emotion was all around.

Of the girls hard fought victory, Mrs. Bahr, upper school community service director and parent of Kaitlin Bahr (’09), said, “It was so exciting because I knew how much work they had all put into it, and I knew that it was a combination of individual skills and the play as a team; I was so proud of Shanice Beasley and all of the strikers and just so proud we beat those Daisies!”

So, by ending the season on the best note possible, the team will go into next season desperate to reaffirm their title. However, for now, they are still basking in the glory of being 2008 SPC Field Hockey Champions.

Christmas Stuff!

Buy, Consign, Donate, Volunteer!

Jewlery Furs Antiques Furniture Housewares Vintage Items Art Collectibles Books Accessories Clothes Rugs and More!

Girls Cross Country The girls cross country team’s fourthplace finish fourth at the SPC meet was distinguished by a number of strong individual performances. Though they had hoped prior to the event place in the top three, the team was satisfied with their finish.

“I think that it gives us a great place to end this season yet a great place to start next season,” Head Coach Rachel Skinner said.

Though the team performed well at SPC, they had previously faced a number of obstacles; the team suffered four injuries to key runners over the course of the season.

“I wish those girls would have had the opportunity to have run at SPC or run fully trained and injury free,” Skinner said.

Additionally, the team was able to beat both Kinkaid and Episcopal. Kinkaid won SPC last year but placed fifth this year.

Off the track, the team felt that they were able to connect well together. “I think we really bonded as a team,” captain Meredith Gamble (’10) said.

The team was happy with its overall performance this year. “Overall, the season was fantastic,” Skinner said. “The team as a whole was awesome.”

Despite the strong season, the team still recognizes room for improvement.

Furthermore, because all of the top five runners are returning next season, the team hopes to improve on its SPC finish this year.

“We will win SPC,” Gamble said. “It’s going to happen.”

Boys Cross Country The boys cross country team finished fourth at SPC, the highest SPC finish since 2004. Captains Carlos Falcon (’09) and Henry Chapman (’10) were both All-SPC runners, and seven runners on the team set new personal records.

Though the team had hoped to place third, they were still pleased with their fourth-place finish.

“A lot of guys ran well,” Coach Richie Mercado said. “We couldn’t have finished any higher than fourth running the way we did, so we’re happy.”

The team also was able to finish ahead of rivals Kinkaid and Episcopal. “It’s always nice to beat Kinkaid and Episcopal,” Falcon said. The team finished behind St. Andrew’s, St. Mary’s Hall and Greenhill.

Prior to SPC, the cross country team finished second at the North Zone Meet and second at their home meet, The Ramble.

The team entered the season with high hopes and was able to do well during the course of the year. “It was my senior year, and I really wanted to go out with a bang,” Falcon said.

The team hopes to build on their SPC finish and faces favorable prospects for next season; the team will retain the entire varsity except for Falcon. Though losing Falcon will be a big loss for the team, they will still have many experienced runners.

“It’s a really tough conference, but we have a good, experienced team,” Mercado said.

Boys Volleyball The SJS varsity boys volleyball team finished seventh at the SPC Division I tournament.

“This was not a team that belonged in a seventh place match, yet if you have a bad weekend, that’s what happens, so I feel sorry for their sake,” Head Coach Eric Lombardi said.

In the first round, the Mavericks were defeated by St. Mark’s 3-0 in sets. “With St. Mark’s, we had our worst showing against them all year. It was our most discouraging match,” Lombardi said.

The loss moved the team to the loser’s bracket where they faced Casady, a team they had defeated 3-0 in sets earlier.

That second loss of the tournament was, “the most surprising,” Lombardi said.

Still, the two losses pitted the Mavericks against rival Kinkaid. SJS won the first game of the last match of the season in record fashion, winning 25-4. “To

only lose four points is very, very difficult, the way the scoring works. If you lose your serve, that’s a point, so to only lose four was really impressive,” Lombardi said.

Although the team finished seventh, “they could have been a top three finisher, so I’m sorry for them that they don’t have the record that shows all the good things that they did,” Lombardi said.

In fact, in the last tournament before SPC, the Mavericks finished second when they lost in the championship match. The tournament included all of the same teams in the final SPC tournament.

“There’s a sense that SPC defines your season, and it’s an unfortunate sense because these guys had a lot of great things going on during the year,” Lombardi said.

Girls Volleyball

The Guild Shop Open Monday–Friday, 9:30–3:30 Saturday, 10:00–2:00 www.theguildshop.org

All proceeds go to charity

2009 Dunlavy 713-528-5095

The

UILD G GUILD S OP of St. John the Divine

The SJS varsity girls volleyball team finished fourth place at the SPC Division I tournament.

After defeating Casady in the first round to move on to the winners bracket, the Mavericks fell to Greenhill, a team they faced for the first time this season.

“We went five sets with them and had a couple of unforced errors that cost us the game, so we ended up having to play for third place because of that loss,” Head Coach James Fuller said.

In the third-place game, the team faced Episcopal School of Dallas, a team the Mavericks had some history with. Last year’s team lost to ESD in the championship match, and this year’s team lost their first match to the Eagles in five sets.

Unfortunately, SJS was not able to get their revenge, and they were defeated in four sets. “Usually if you play a team three times, you come out 1-2 at the very

least, so we’re disappointed with losing to ESD so many times,” Fuller said.

“We are incredibly disappointed, not with the season as a whole but just with how we performed at SPC,” Gibbs said.

Still, like she said, the season as a whole could be described as a success. In fact, the Mavericks finished 25-4, “the best record we’ve had in quite a few years,” Fuller said.

“Despite the anti-climactic end, I still think that it was a really great season and the only thing that could have made it better was a better showing at SPC,” Gibbs added.

Although the team will lose multiple seniors next year, the team retains the many underclassmen on the team this year and the juniors that will include Mary Ashleigh Boles (‘10), who was injured for the final tournament with a broken foot.

15

Despite challenges, swim team exhibits potential

December 2008

sports

Boys basketball expects to pass competition

By SARAH NASSER The Maverick swimmers look to the future as they begin the season with a newly distributed team.

“We have a well balanced team and definitely stronger numbers than we’ve seen in the past,” captain David Thomas (’09) said. “We have a good number of people in every stroke rather than being good in one area and not having any swimmers in another event … We don’t have any especially weak spots.”

However, the team is also aware of the harm that this new equilibrium could do.

“We don’t have any ‘gimme’ events anymore… Everyone’s on an equal footing, which means we don’t have any swimmers who particularly stand out,” Thomas said.

With a new group of freshman swimmers joining, “the new team is bigger than ever,” captain Jade Law (’09) said. “It’s a bit more difficult to practice in the pool with so many swimmers in each lane, but there is definitely a lot of potential in our team this year.”

Rather than focusing on the loss of Jack Mauel (’08), who was the only swimmer to get into the top three in any event at SPC last year, the Mavericks are rebuilding. “We have a lot of good sophomores and juniors who will hopefully improve and become strong members of the team.

If they do, I think it’ll bode well for us in future seasons as well,” Thomas said.

“We got off to a rough start during preseason,” Law said. “We didn’t have a pool to swim in, so we ended up spending about a week out on the track and in the weight room getting in shape. We only had three practices before our first meet at Lamar.”

Despite the inconvenience, both Thomas and Law remain confident in their team’s chances. “I have high expectations, and I think we’ll do really well,” Thomas said.

By SARAH NASSER

CLAY NICKENS | The Review

This year’s SJS varsity boys basketball team is leaning on their experience to take them all the way. “We’re a really veteran team with a lot of returning seniors and upperclassmen,” captain Ethan Harry (’09) said.

Without any new freshmen and only one new sophomore added to the varsity team this season, most of the players on this year’s team have played together for multiple seasons. “We know what to expect, what our coach expects of us and what to expect from each other,” Harry said. “Since we’re already used to playing together, we have a lot more confidence in ourselves and our team.”

Sizing up the competition, the Mavericks “definitely have a solid chance,” Harry said after commenting on the status of both the Episcopal and Kinkaid varsity basketball teams.

Episcopal has lost four of their five starters from last season, with only Andy Ball remaining. “They’ll have some trouble matching up to last year’s team, but they’ll still be a challenge as always,” Harry said.

As for Kinkaid, most of their players

Above: Carter Pearson (‘09) passes to a teamate Right: William Young (‘10) jumps up for a layup.

have returned, including “a few future college players… but we’re up for the challenge,” he added.

The Mavericks started strong during the preseason at a series of scrimmages at Bellaire High School. “We only lost to Bellaire by twelve points, and to Jones, a good [Division AAAA] team, without three of our starters,” Harry (’09) said. “We felt good coming into the season after that.”

In the early regular season, the Mav-

ericks were 2-2, but both losses “have come to the top two teams in the city,” Harry said.

Recently, the team lost to Lamar High School in overtime on Nov. 21 but defeated Lutheran High South on Nov. 22 61-45. Their current record is 4-5.

The senior captain said he is definitely confident about the year ahead.

“It should all come together for us this year. Expect big things from us this season because we’re definitely capable.”

Girls basketball rebuilds after losing senior talent

By SARAH NASSER It’s all about fundamentals for the Mavericks this season, as girls basketball looks to rebuild after losing last year’s seniors.

“We lost all five starters and six seniors [total] last year,” captain Shanice Beasley (’09) said. “There were some really talented girls and some big scorers last year that we need to replace… they’ve left some huge gaps to fill.”

Fortunately, several other SPC teams in the Houston area are facing the same problem. “A lot of teams, including Kinkaid and Episcopal, lost seniors who went on to play Division I college basketball,” Beasley said.

Looking to fill the gaps, the Mavericks are expecting their underclassmen to step up.

“A lot of the open spots have been given to underclassmen… they’ve been doing a great job so far and have worked really hard.”

However, though the new energy from the underclassmen displays potential, the mostly new team lacks strong player experience.

“We have such a young team that even seniors, including myself, have little experience on the court because we haven’t been starters the past few seasons… we all have to get used to the speed of the game, basic offense and defense and the funda-

mentals,” Beasley said.

Despite lacking all of the freshmen and two senior captains, the Mavericks were satisfied with their performance in the John Cooper Tournament on Nov. 13-15.

“On the court, our defense generates a lot of our offense. We did a good job maintaining defensive intensity during the tournament, and if CLAY we continue to play NICKENS like that, we can

| The Review be just as competitive as we were last year,” Beasley (’09) said.

“Our chemistry will develop as we get deeper into the season, and I think Nelly we have Kontchou a lot of (‘09) looks potential.” for a pass Since the John Cooper Tournament, the Mavericks were defeated

by Second Baptist on Nov. 21.

sports

16

December 2008

Wrestling faces positive prospects

Boys soccer starts strong

By JESSICA ALLEN

JENNY LEWIS | The Review

By JESSICA ALLEN Despite losing several talented seniors last year, this year’s boys varsity soccer team hopes to continue the momentum of their amazing last season.

Led by captains Henry Chapman (’10), Colin Rice (’10) and Zach Gaitz (’10) and coach George Turley, the team hopes to not only win games but also to grow and develop as a team.

The captains admit to suffering great losses this season the many varsity players that graduated last year. Most notably, the captains of last year’s team, one of which, Clayton Holz (’09), played on a national team. This year, the captains all agree that their team will be different from last year’s, but they still plan to fight as hard as they can.

As for success, Gaitz said that the success of the team “should not be determined by wins and losses.”

“Our success should be determined by maturation, growth as a team and as a unit and of course fun and enjoyment,” he said. “Although winning is of course important to the team, our season will be successful if we can bond and grow.”

Coach Turley thinks that the responsibility will fall on the shoulders of the young captains. “We will be a young team, but we have experience. Zach,

Henry and Colin are all very good players,” he said. “They will determine how far we go.”

This year in SPC, the captains just look forward to working as hard as they can and having the best outcome possible.

Last year, the varsity boys soccer team went farther than anyone could have imagined. They managed to win the first game in SPC for the first time that most people could remember, breaking their so-called “curse”. They ended up finishing third at SPC, exceeding everyone’s expectations.

Chapman hopes to keep the team’s curse at rest for good. “My hopes for SPC this year are to at least win the first game, and take it as far as we can,” he said.

Gaitz also sets his sights not necessarily on winning the SPC championship, but playing well together as a team.

“With the talent, work ethic and camaraderie prevalent in my fellow teammates, SPC will be a great experience,” he said. “[SPC] should not be something we look at as being easily attainable, but something that we must earn together.”

The team began the season strong with a second place finish at the St. Thomas High School Invitational, a tournament that included six teams.

Girls soccer looks to improve on previous season’s finish

By JESSICA ALLEN Although they lost ten of last year’s talented seniors, the girls varsity soccer team is determined to continue the fight in the 2008-2009 season.

Lead by captains Olivia Flores (’09), Kelley Harrison (’09), Vail KohnertYount (’09) and Brooke Schuler (’09) and coached by Rachel Skinner, the team hopes to dominate this year’s tough competition.

Flores said her team faces the challenge of “keeping the momentum of how good our team was last year with so many new faces.” She explained, “With a team that loses so many seniors, I think a big challenge is definitely replacing some of the talent lost.”

Nevertheless, the captains were encouraged by the explosion of new talent at tryouts this year. “I think all the new freshmen will be really good and that all the returning players have only gotten better,” Flores said.

Kohnert-Yount agreed. “I’m so impressed by the skill and work ethic of our underclassmen,” she said. “All this new talent has strengthened our team all over the field.”

Harrison also expressed confidence in her team, counting on the fact that other Houston teams suffered heavy losses as well. “Coach Skinner really knows how to work with what we have,” she said. “A lot of teams in Houston and SPC in general lost a lot of good players this year.” She insisted that her team “should still be fairly competitive.”

Kohnert-Yount also said that Coach Skinner’s leadership should ensure the team’s success for seasons to come.

“Even though this is my last year on the team, I can’t help but get excited for the team’s future,” she said. “Coach Skinner demands effort and excellence from every player, and most importantly she makes you demand it from yourself.

Our underclassmen are already strong, and they’ll only continue to improve.”

Last year, the girls soccer team was nearly undefeated in SPC competition, losing only one counter game, their last, to crosstown rival Kinkaid in overtime.

Though the loss bumped them to the second place seed going into SPC, the team had high hopes to continue their luck. However, the team was disappointed with a shocking eighth place finish.

The captains hope to build on last year’s lesson. “I really hope to be in [Division I] and improve from our finish last year,” Harrison said.

Flores just wants her team to find a way to work together toward success.

“My hopes are…to see our team completely come together before we have to face all the tough opponents at SPC,” she said. “Like every team out there, we go for first.”

So far, the Mavericks have posted a 5-3-2 record with wins in the Kinkaid Playday and St. Mary’s Hall Tournament. In its only match outside of a tournament this year, the Mavericks tied Episcopal 0-0.

Armed with experienced captains and talented wrestlers, the SJS wrestling team faces a challenging season with a positive attitude. Lead by captains Patrick Ryan (’09), Bryce Hollingsworth (’09), Shea Herlihy-Abba (’09) and Cameron Neal (’11) and Head Coach Alan Paul, the team hopes to have a successful season, hopefully ending with a victory at SPC. Due to the team’s dedicated wrestlers, the captains believe they have a fair shot at winning SPC. “I feel like we’re on the verge of coming together really well,” Herlihy-Abba said. “We have a lot of people who are really into wrestling, a lot of people who are really dedicated to wrestling and a lot of people who really want to just get out there and give it there best.”

Without the loss of any seniors, the wrestlers are excited that they have maintained their core team from last year. Despite the fact that some former team members quit this year, the wrestlers hope that last year’s relative success means their team will only have improved.

Last year, the team had a winning record in duals and finished fifth at SPC after some members of the team did not attend the meet due to illnesses. This year, the team thinks they have a chance of taking first place.

“There are a bunch of guys

that have shots, like real, real shots, at winning this year,” Hollingsworth said.

According to Coach Paul, the team’s biggest competitor this year will be St. Marks School in Dallas, who “year after year, they just reload,” Paul said.

St. Marks has been SPC champions for many years in a row, and Coach Paul hopes to finally defeat them this year.

Most of all, however, Coach Paul and the captains maintain that the team needs to do as well as they possibly can at SPC. After last year’s disappointing finish, the wrestlers just hope they can leave it all on the mat.

“Anything less than the best that we can do is unacceptable,” Paul said.

In its first meet on Nov. 14, the team defeated all three of its opponents, Strake Jesuit, Cy Creek and Bellaire. In the second meet of the year on Nov. 15, the team defeated Kinkaid, Davis, Episcopal and Lamar but lost to St. Thomas High School.

Since the, the Mavericks defeated Kinkaid on Nov. 19 and proceeded to finish second at the St. Thomas Tournament on Nov. 21-22, finishing behind only Episcopal.

KATHERINE CARMICHAEL | The Review

17

a&e The Review

December 2008

Paperback Troubadours perform for First Thursdays

By ANNE-CHARLOTTE PROFFITT On Nov. 13 a band composed of SJS students performed at the Oculus during lunch. This all-girl band played a few choice songs while surrounded by admiring fans.

Called the Paperback Troubadours, the band includes four SJS students: Gabi Chennisi (’09), Gracie Fraser (’09), Abigail Hook (’09) and Anna Ziemnicki (’09). The multi-talented group not only performs covers of its favorite songs but also writes its own music, sings its own songs and plays its own creations. The four girls have even played twice at the Mucky Duck Pub on open mic nights.

The actual name of the band is steadily declining in popularity among its members, and they are searching for a new name.

Chennisi brings an abundance of skills to the band, including playing instruments such as the guitar, the piano, the harmonica, the banjo, the accordion and the ukulele. Hook plays the piano and violin and sings with Ziemnicki, and Fraser and Chennisi usually play the guitars.

“We’ll play again if they want us to, but we’re not really scheduled,” Chennisi said. She added that the band had a lot of fun playing for SJS at lunch and is eager to play again soon. The Paperback Troubadours love to play and look forward to “rock[ing] on,” Chennisi said.

The Troubadours’ performance marked the re-launching of an SJS tradition called “First Thursdays.”

Fine Arts teacher Darrell Parrish explained, “In the fall of 200 when the VST was officially opened, the Fine Arts Council used to sponsor what we call ‘First Thursdays.’ On the first Thursday of each month, we would have some kind of a fine arts presentation that would take place in or near the VST.” Mr. Parrish explained that these performances were meant to encourage students to spend time in the new building. He added, “[We wanted to] attract students who were not involved in the arts to possibly get excited about being a part of the Fine Arts Department.”

However, First Thursdays was temporarily cancelled for a few years while the Upper School went under construction and the VST tunnel w a s closed.

Now that the construction was complete, Mr. Parrish said, “This year’s Fine Arts Council wanted to bring back that tradition.”

Therefore, the Paperback Troubadours have signaled the reinvigoration of this tradition.

Anna Ziemnicki (‘09), Gabi Chennisi (‘09), Gracie Fraser (‘09) and Abigail Hook (‘09) perform at the Oculus.

KATHERINE CARMICHAEL | The Review

Cast prepares for Two Gentlemen of Verona

By MARIAM MATIN The upcoming musical Two Gentlemen of Verona is filled with scandalous twists and turns and involves a number of contentious issues such as a child born out of wedlock and allusions to the anti-war movement.

“Was public school segregation controversial?” asked Ben Marek (’10).

“Was the season finale of “The Sopra-

nos” controversial? The answer to all of these questions is a resounding yes.

Does that mean that the results of all these momentous occasions were bad?

No. Controversy is good on occasion.

This musical will enlighten some, shock others, but entertain most.”

“There is a lot of innuendo,” Laura Brill (’10) said. “It may distract people from the real importance.”

However, this is not uncommon for the

theater directors. Fine Arts Department Chair and director Bill McDonald said that he has edited several plays and musicals before and that this year is no different from any other.

Some edits are already underway. For example, certain changes will be made to the plot, dialogue and one particular song.

“Whatever is not St. John’s appropriate will be cut,” Mr. McDonald said.

“I think people are excited because they think there is some naughtiness, but I wouldn’t over-blow it.”

The musical itself is based on the play of the same name written by William Shakespeare. The story involves a complicated love triangle that begins in Verona and ends in Milan, with several plot twists and exciting song-and-dance numbers in between, coordinated by Scott Bonasso and Aaron Girlinghouse.

The musical follows the story of two friends, Proteus and Valentine. Proteus falls in love with Julia, and with the help of Cupid, she falls in love with him too. Proteus is forced to travel to Milan with Valentine, but not before leaving Julia pregnant. Julia and her friend Lucetta dress up as men and head to Milan to find Proteus, hence the title Two Gentlemen of Verona.

This musical is known as a rock musical. Written by Galt MacDermot, John Guare and Mel Shapiro, the show first opened in 1971. It won a Tony in 1972 for Best Musical.

“A rock musical means you’ll see more drums,” Marek said. “You may even see a guitar. Rock musicals are much more upbeat and modern.”

Mr. McDonald said he had performed the musical in college and is looking forward to directing it.

“Most people don’t know the play,” Christopher Laporte (’11) said. “They will come in without a previous opinion of it, so that’ll be good.”

“It let’s us do whatever we want with the show,” Blair Bou-Chebl (’11) said.

“It gives us creativity and the audience a sense of surprise, but that also makes it difficult.”

“It’s going to be a tough show dancewise,” Mr. McDonald said. “We want to be sure that they know the steps before the break.”

Mr. McDonald added that since the choreography is incredibly precise, two dance rehearsals will be held before the semester is over.

Informal vocal rehearsals will also be held before the semester ends. Then large chorus rehearsals will begin, and the directors will begin staging everything at the same time while the principals do some scene work.

“Sometimes it seems like it’s not going to work,” Laporte said, “but it always does in the end.”

“It’s a lot,” Brill said. “What I kind of picture it as being is you go, sit down, it starts and you can’t blink for the rest of the show because it’s so out there. Then it ends and you’re just like, what happened?”

“I’m excited because it’s a different show than we have ever done before,” John Allman (’09) said. “This is my last musical at SJS. I’m a musical theater freak so to do a show like this, one that is so good but so rarely performed, is exciting.”

The auditions for the musical were fairly standard. Those auditioning took a packet with music and information, and they sang a song of their choice. If they wanted to audition for a principal role, they performed a one-minute monologue. They also attended a session to learn the dance.

“They had no callbacks,” Marek said, “and there was [only] a short period of time between when the auditions were held and the cast list was put up.”

“It’s a tough show to stage,” Mr. McDonald said. “Some years callbacks help, some years they don’t.”

“The best part is having a big cast with people from all different grades,” Laporte said. “You get to know each other pretty well.”

Marek said, “We have a lot of talented actors and actresses, a stellar lineup which should produce a very good show.”

18

December 2008

Sink your teeth into...

a&e

Twilight

By ALEXA CARRASCO As I entered the parking garage with three of my friends, Allie Adkins (’09), Allison Wells (’09) and Amber Malloy (‘09), herds of shrieking preteen girls were running out of the theater. A little fazed, I wondered what we had gotten ourselves into.

Fortunately, we were able to find parking on the second floor. We parked, went in towards the elevators and looked down. The sight was unreal. Hundreds of girls were walking around, and there was literally no room to move.

We rushed to pick up our tickets and skipped the concessions altogether: we were on a mission to procure the best

seats ever. Luckily, we had sent Malloy upstairs to, dare I confess, cut in line.

As the remaining three of us made our way up the escalators, all we could hear were screams. We made it to the top of the escalators, glanced back and looked at the seemingly endless line. Surely we were not late; I checked my watch and we were thirty minutes early.

As we relaxed when we saw Malloy at the front of the line, we made our way to the end of the line because we knew our seats were saved. Finally, we entered the theater to find the preteen gang jittering nervously. We made our way to our seats, and awaited the opening scene of Twilight.

Twilight, based on the bestseller book

Photo courtesy of IMDB.com

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart star in the immensely popular film.

by Stephenie Meyer, is about an ordinary girl, Isabella Swan, who falls in love with vampire Edward Cullen. The whole story revolves about this relationship and the difficulties involved with it.

When the title flashed across the screen, roars of happiness and joy erupted before the theater suddenly fell silent.

The moment that most of these girls had waited for had finally arrived.

There were many different opinions about the movie, and here is mine: in general, it did not live up to the book.

Although the movie was not great in itself, what gave Twilight fans the visual satisfaction was obviously the cast. Kristen Stewart, starring as Isabella Swan, played the character exactly to book specifications. She was witty yet caring simultaneously. Her role as Bella was cast perfectly, and she did a fantastic job.

The second major role was that of Edward Cullen, who was played by Robert Pattinson. Pattinson, who had previously had a role as Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, brought a newfound persona to his starring role in Twilight. With his enchanting demeanor, Pattinson was the best Edward that could have been chosen. He was witty and funny, but most importantly, for all of the girls in the theater, just as beautiful as the book described him.

The third character that got a lot of cheers from the crowd was Kellan Lutz, who played the brawly and strong Emmet Cullen. When he came on-screen, cheers and professions of love roared throughout the theater. His character bought some comic relief to the movie; Lutz grasped his role and fulfilled it brilliantly.

The last character that received an almost standing ovation was Jacob Black, played by heartthrob Jacob Lautner. The closest in age to that of the female audience in the theater, Lautner brought a sense of youth to the movie, embracing his role as the werewolf-to-be.

Like the aforementioned characters, the rest of the cast was excellently chosen with a few surprises. All in all, the cast made the movie rather than the other aspects like cinematography and directing. With the looks of the crowd attending the movie, Twilight is sure to rake in the big bucks, aligning itself with the likes of the Harry Potter series.

With one movie down and three to go, Twilight fans are already desperately waiting for the next installment.

In regards to the actual movie’s plotline, my notion is that many non-readers of Twilight will be begging for their money back. With a seemingly uninvolved plot, many non readers will think of this movie as a recreation of many other sub-standard chick flicks: the girl is fascinated by the bad guy, and they eventually fall in love.

Still, devoted readers of the series thought that this was one of the year’s best movies. With the plot being close to that of the original book, readers received a movie free from errors or new additions to the plotline.

Most of the readers were clearly excited to finally see the movie. One member of the preteen crowd called it “the moment they waited their whole lives for.” Readers were so fascinated and enthralled with the movie that they ran out after the credits singing its praises and talking excitedly about the next films.

Erica Reed’s artwork featured at gallery

By SARAH WINDHAM From Oct. 23 - 26 Erica Reed (’12) had 8 pieces of art displayed at the fourth annual exhibit at Winter Street Studios, 2101 Winter St. Erica’s pieces were on display in Ellen Orseck’s studio on the ground floor of the Winter Street Studios building. Ms. Orseck, a well known local artist, teaches art at St. Agnes Academy and also offers ex-

She added, “I was dressed in my uniform along with a red cape. It had snowed in the picture. I love snow ... and I really wanted to show myself in my version of a fairy tale.”

Also on display was a drawing of a young girl sitting and looking up, which Reed said is a portrayal of the mixture of emotions one feels when waiting in a hospital: “slightly confused and clueless.”

“Art is [usually] really a relaxing kind of thing, like doodling, but some things I make are really thought out” tra art classes outside school for budding artists like Reed.

Pieces by Reed and her fellow classmates were displayed with pieces by Ms. Orseck herself.

On Oct. 25 a reception, at which art lovers could buy art and speak with the artists themselves, was held in the Winter Street Studios.

Reed was pleasantly surprised when she found out that two of her pieces had sold.

Her “featured piece” was a large painting that she describes as “a painting of myself…I was a modern version of little red riding hood with an iPod and a Butterfinger candy bar.”

Other pieces included a colored-pencil drawing of flowers and a photo of her next-door neighbor’s pet, King Charles Spaniel, looking through a fence. Two mementoes of her SJS experience that Reed decided to include were a collage of a song by the New Radicals that she did for Mr. Kisner’s art class last year and a photo of one of her hikes from Big Bend.

Reed describes her artistic style as a mixture of impressionism, the style she employs for painting, and surrealism for drawing, photography, and pretty much everything else.

“Art is [usually] really a re-

laxing kind of thing, like doodling, but some things I make are really thought out,” she said.

Reed says her two main inspirations for her art and her life are her mom and her older brother Chris Reed (’04).

Reed described her mom as an “engineer by profession, but an artist at heart.”

She remembered that the first time she got really interested in art was one summer when she was about six years old and her mom took an art course at the Glassell School of Art. Reed said, “My mom would bring home these drawings that she had made…They were amazing. Before that summer, I had never seen my mom make such incredible art.”

Of her older brother Chris, Erica said, “He was my superman brother; anything that he did was golden.”

As for her art class with Ms. Orsic, Reed said, “[It] was more about direction, so I was mostly on my own… though she helped me quite a bit. Class is pretty good besides the fact that I am the only person in the class under fifty…but that is okay. I am Reed poses next to the self-portrait which just glad they don’t get upset was her featured piece. with me; they are nice.”

Photo courtesy of Eric Reed

a&e

19

December 2008

Breaking, entering and creating art SJS Art instructor Dan Havel and fellow artist Dean Ruck present new pieces at the MFAH

By MELISSA YUAN From the team who brought Houston the phenomenon of the Inversion House, SJS art instructor Dan Havel and partner Dean Ruck continue to create art from abandoned sites with their newest piece, Trespass 4416.

Several years ago, Mr. Havel and Mr. Ruck caught the attention of hundreds of Houstonians and numerous art organizations, by transforming an abandoned house into a phenomenon. The house was soon to be destroyed and an art gallery built in place of it, but Mr. Havel and Mr. Ruck took the opportunity to create a fanatical piece of art.

This vortex house stayed up longer than planned, but finally, the house was torn down in 2005 and Art League Houston continued with their original plans for the lot.

Though weeks of hard work by Mr. Havel and Mr. Ruck disappeared, Mr. Havel wasn’t worried. “We were both fine with that. I don’t think that art has to be permanent. Just like with the life of [debris material] we use for these pieces, there’s a sense of moving on,” Mr. Havel said.

For Trespass 4416, Mr. Havel and Mr. Ruck chose to continue their previous theme used for the Inversion House.

“The idea was to find abandoned sites and discarded materials and reconstruct them into something of value,” Mr. Havel said.

The team soon discovered a property with a 19th century bungalow and a sea of debris and rubble surrounding it.

Together, they cut huge squares out of the walls, roofs, and floor boards. Along with materials they had acquired from other abandoned sites around Houston, Mr. Havel and Mr. Ruck moved all their supplies to Mr. Ruck’s studio and began the construction of their piece.

“We had the idea of making layers and stuffing them with debris,” Mr. Havel said. “We were joking about making it like a pie.”

Because Trespass was a gallery-piece rather than an on-site piece like the Inversion House, the team had to engineer an object which could be easily transported and placed within an exhibit space.

Eventually, Mr. Havel and Mr. Ruck chose to cut different sized circles to use as layers, stacking them on one another. “We liked the idea of a stack being something that towers over you, something that gives it presence,” Mr. Havel explained. “But other than that, we didn’t have a definitive plan. We’re both very physical sculptors. We don’t sit down and sketch it out too often.”

A house from which Mr. Havel and Mr. Ruck obtained an assortment materials for their piece.

The result of their work was an egg shaped ball of rubble. Though at first glance the piece may look chaotic, a curator of the MFAH Alison Greene sees it as a piece of work to experience as people walk around it, she said. “There’s so much to see other than rubble,” she said. “It’s lived history. You can see the roof shingles compared to the floor boards. The old thermostat, towel hooks from the bathroom.”

Though the piece is now being displayed to the public in an exhibit of the MFAH which opened November 15, Trespass has had quite a history before it reached the museum.

After its completion, Trespass was displayed in an exhibition at DiverseWorks Houston in 2007. Once the exhibition was completed, Mr. Havel and Mr. Ruck faced the question of what they would do with their piece.

Unwilling to let their piece slowly die in their studio, Mr. Havel and Mr. Ruck decided to return the sculpture to its origins, to the corner of Lillian and Patterson Streets where they had first taken their materials.

The lot had since been cleared to make way for new condominiums, but the partners chose to leave their piece there as a memorial for both the bungalow

Photo courtesy of Dan Havel

The piece is made of squares cut out of walls, roofs and floor boards.

Photo courtesy of Dan Havel

and the people who had lived there.

Knowing the structure would be on its own to face harsh weather conditions and heavy trash pickup days, Mr. Havel and Mr. Ruck had thought this would be a more appropriate end for the piece than collecting dust in their studio.

Yet four weeks later, Trespass was still watching the cars drive by from its position on the corner of Lillian and Patterson.

The piece soon caught the attention of another gallery and the piece was transferred to into the sculpture garden of the Devil Borden Hiram Butler Gallery, then from that gallery, caught the attention of the prestigious MFAH. “We had already had a little taste of what [notoriety] was like from the Inversion House, but it’s still really exciting,” he said.

But other than the notoriety the piece will be receiving in the MFAH, Mr. Havel is also looking forward to visitors’ perspectives of their piece. “I find that, as an artist, much more interesting than forcing an idea on a viewer,” he said. “I learn more from what they bring to the work.”

The curators at the museum are just as excited to have the piece in their exhibit as the artists are. “Trespass really struck a core with us. People’s lives have been recorded in this art, and even though they’re gone, [Mr. Havel] and [Mr. Ruck] have saved their memories. […] It’s so dynamic. We’re having a lot of fun with it,” Ms. Greene said.

The ‘fun’ aspect of this quirky piece is one aspect both Ms. Greene and Mr. Havel agree on. “We treated it like a toy,” Mr. Havel said. “I get a lot of entertainment out of [Trespass’s] ongoing life… [from] being a street urchin to having a place in the museum. It’s just fun.”

With their momentum quickly moving faster, the collaborative team wants to keep it moving. “It’s exciting,” Mr. Havel said. “People are paying attention and we want to keep working.” Already, the team has created a second piece to the Trespass series and has been invited to work on several new projects and pieces.

The show which Trespass 4416 is currently being displayed in, Part two of the Learning by Doing, will be open from November 15 to January 11 at the MFAH in the Audrey Jones Beck Building. Moreover, there will be a dinner reception for the exhibit on December 11. Information for admissions can be found on www.mfah.org.

odds&ends Thumbs Thumbs down up New Gmail themes Beignets in the library Mini pies at Senior Tea

Word for Word

“Fail!”

No real reading day Midterms approaching

Staffer of the Issue

“Herodotus was the father of history.”

“He should have worn a condom.”

—History teacher Ms. DiPaolo and Joey Cowan (‘12) “Is anybody good at English?”

“Yeah, I’m fluent.”

—Alice Fogler (‘10) and Bowden Kelly (‘10) “I can tell you about those Italians. I almost got traded for a sack of crabs.”

—Ms. Sanford, during a Foreigner rehearsal “I think I, like, legitimately have a disease or something.”

—John Allman (‘09), attempting to write his history paper the night before it was due “I never read the textbook. I have people like Mr. Popp to read the textbook.”

—History teacher Dr. Doina “How do you spell ‘necrophilia’?”

—Julia Gibbs (‘09) in the middle of an English quiz

Sarah Koslov (‘10)

Sarah definitely distinguished herself during preparation for this issue. In addition to completing her assigned Features article, she voluntarily did research for and wrote an extra article clearing up confusion behind Kat Club because of personal interest in the topic.

Sarah exemplifies the dedication found in the best Review staffers, and the editors are grateful for all her hard work.

sixty seconds with madeline wareing (‘12)

KATHERINE CARMICHAEL | The Review

name madeline wareing grade 9th relationship status in love with mary sjs cafeteria item dumplings sport to play curling sport to watch basketball if i did an olympic sport it would be speedwalking professional sports team cowboys music jack johnson movie aristocats tv show gilmore girls book catcher in the rye radio station i don’t listen to the radio starbucks pumpkin spice latte Sue Mills item plaid skirt restaurant ninfa’s comfort food chocolate cake vegetable asparagus breakfast food kolaches Facebook or MySpace? facebook holiday christmas color blue dream vacation england dream date edward drink water hero superman sing in the shower? always kids? 2 kids’ names? parker and wyatt if i were an inanimate object i would be a silver volvo when i grow up i want to live in forks favorite spot on the sjs campus the plaza motto bet the farm! do you read the review? i do now