THE REVIEW
Fear of failure Do students need to experience failure in order to succeed? See Page 10.
ST. JOHN’S SCHOOL STUDENT NEWSPAPER 2401 CLAREMONT LANE · HOUSTON, TX 77019 · VOLUME 65 · ISSUE 2 · OCTOBER 2013
BOND, SJS BOND
School issues $125M in bonds by Alyyah Malick
SJS recently issued approximately $125 million in bonds to finance the purchase of the Taub Property and the construction of the Campus Center, otherwise known as the Great Hall. The deals will close Oct. 29. “We have issued bonds before but never on this magnitude,” Director of Finance and Operations Greg Swan said. The issuance of bonds represents the School’s obligation to pay back the bond’s value — with interest — after a predetermined period of time. The school will fulfill these monetary debts through fundraising efforts and incremental tuition increases. “Our community has been very generous and hopefully will continue to be very generous,” Swan said. The Finance Committee is scheduled to review a plan for an increase in tuition at a meeting Nov. 6. The Board of Trustees will then consider the tuition change at its December meeting. In April, the Board approved a plan that calls for an increase in the number of Upper School students to provide additional funds for repaying the debt. For four years, beginning in 2015, the school will admit an extra 25 students to each freshman class. Despite the increased Upper School enrollment, the size of academic classes will not change. The school will hire new teachers as needed. “We’ve done this before,” Swan said. “We’ll just have to figure out how to work in a total of 100 kids throughout the system.” The cost of the Taub Property was $91.1 million, and the budget for the campus center is approximately $40 million. Further contributions by the community will go towards paying off the bonds and financing future development of the Taub Property. The school had no major trouble finding investors for the bonds. “SJS is a strong brand. It’s a strong school,” Swan said. Selling bonds is a conventional way to finance large-scale projects. In 1998, SJS issued $11 million in bonds to pay for a portion of the costs to construct the VST and purchase Caven Field. Last week, SJS issued public bonds with the help of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) in New York. RBC facilitated the transaction of $94.5 million in public bonds that mature in 30 years. An additional $30 million in private placement bonds that mature in seven years will be sold to Compass Bank. Individual investors purchased about $8 million worth of bonds, and large institutions invested in the rest. The largest investor was United Services Automobile Association, an insurance company based in San Antonio.
Online this Month Jaywalking Halloween Special and full coverage of Kinkaid Week
ISABELLE METZ
Like father, like son Rickie Winslow dunks in Liu Court with the approval of his son, senior Justise Winslow. Rickie, who played professional basketball, provides advice both on and off the court for Justise, who has led the Mavericks to two SPC championships.
Learning from the best
Students of talented parents benefit from wealth of experience
by Irene Vazquez
W
“More of his help comes off the court, about how to handle the pressure and the spotlight,” Justise said.
through his hands at some point,” Iris said. She wrote her first serious short story in the fifth grade. “When I go back and read it now, I think ‘Whoa, this is rough,’ but it was a pretty big step for me. I felt so energized by it,” Iris said. Her father was interested in writing throughout his childhood, especially after reading Ray Bradbury’s “The Martian Chronicles.” “In high school, I started to envy writers for what they could do,” Justin said. “I had no expectation of actually becoming a writer.” Iris’s family has a long-standing history in the field of writing. Her parents met at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and her mother, Leslie, is a poet and English teacher. Justin taught creative writing at LaSalle University in Philadelphia from 1992 to 2003 and at Rice University from 2003 to 2012. “He would take me to his office at LaSalle on days when I didn’t have school,” Iris said. “I’d just hang out in his office, spin around in the big chair and play computer games.” Although her parents’ professions bring many benefits, Iris acknowledges that there are definite downsides. “Since he was the speaker at Book Fair, people have been coming up to me, saying that they’re excited or that they had to read his story in English class,” Iris said. Justin does not see any drawbacks to helping Iris hone her writing craft. Continued on Page 4
BEYOND...........................................8 OPINIONS.......................................9 IN FOCUS.............................................10
SPORTS.........................................14 ODDS & ENDS.......................................18 PHOTOSTORY................................20
hen senior Justise Winslow goes in for a layup, he knows his dad PASSING ON THE PEN has been there before. Justise’s father, Rickie Winslow, was a When junior Iris Cronin hands her star player at the University of Houston dad a manuscript, she expects it to be who also played briefly in the NBA for returned full of edits and coffee stains. the Milwaukee Bucks. Writing has been a part of her life for as Winslow teamed with future Hall long as she can remember. of Famers Clyde Drexler and Hakeem “I wrote my fi rst book in kindergarten. Olajuwon in the celebrated “Phi Slama It was a picture book called ‘Inner and Jama” fraternity, which was the Cougar’s Outer Space,’” Iris said. “The follow up basketball team that reached the NCAA finals in 1983 and 1984. “My dad’s knowledge of the game helps me immensely,” Justise said. “He’s experienced what it is like to be “My dad’s knowledge of the a professional athlete. He’s been there before.” game helps me immensely. Because of his dad’s basketball He’s been there before.” success, Justise feels as though other people think he has to live up to his Justise Winslow dad. “I play because I love the sport,” Justise said. “I want to be as good as was another picture book, colored with I can be.” crayons, called ‘All About Bears.’ I didn’t Winslow was naturally drawn to sports know anything about bears.” because he followed his older brothers Her father, Justin, is a New York Times Josh (’11) and Cedric around to their bestselling novelist and author of four practices. novels. “It was the third grade when I started “I barely have to help Iris. We talk, she playing YMCA basketball,” Justise said. shows me drafts and I make some sugges“My first year our team made it to the tions,” Justin said. “Whether she chooses championship. We tied, but there was no to use my help or not is up to her.” tiebreaker. I remember going back to the Justin reads all of Iris’s pieces, ranging locker room and just crying in front all of from fl ash fi ction and poetry to short these older guys.” stories and novels. Justise’s relationship with his father “Every creative thing I produce passes benefits him both on and off the court.
NEWS...............................................2 FEATURES........................................4 ENTERTAINMENT.............................7