January Issue 2007

The Review

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

The Official Student Newspaper of St. John’s School 2401 Claremont Lane; Houston, TX 77019 | http://sjsreview.net | review@sjs.org

Vol. 58, Issue 6

January 2007

Alum Wesley Hunt continues to serve in Iraq Photo courtesy of Wesley Hunt (‘00).

By VAIL KOHNERT-YOUNT Frederick Douglass once said, “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” Douglass’s quote is a favorite of first lieutenant Wesley Hunt (’00) of the United States Armed Forces. In fact, Hunt includes the words in the signature of every e-mail he sends.

As an active member in the army, Hunt’s recent participation in the ongoing struggle to bring progress to the conflictstricken country of Iraq shows his dedication to Douglass’s words.

From an early age, Hunt’s family, particularly his father, a retired army colonel, instilled a sense of homegrown American pride in him. “You grow up in a patriotic home and learn to appreciate this country and the sacrifices made for our freedom,” he said, “which makes you really want to be part of it.”

After graduating from SJS, Hunt matriculated to the United States Military Academy at West Point, following in the footsteps of his older sister D’Hania. His younger brother Wesley Hunt (‘00) stands in front of his Apache attack helicopter. Hunt has been on active duty since March 2006 in Iraq.

SJS employs new security measures SJS has implemented several new security measures to ensure students are safe on campus.

page 3

Looking back on 2006 We’re already several weeks into 2007, but it is never too late to look back on a great year like 2006. Check out the photo spread and article.

page 12-13

Exam schedule under the microscope Two staff writers take a look at the midterm exam schedule.

page 21

Index News........................................2 beyondSJS................................5 Features....................................9 2006 in Review......................12 A&E........................................14 Sports.....................................17 Opinions................................20 Odds&Ends............................23

New ISP delves into US literature

See HUNT on p. 5

US Wrestling team stays strong

By REBECCA WELBOURN This semester, Upper School history teacher Dr. Richard Doina is offering a new seminar-style Independent Study Project for students who would rather discuss historical literature than sit through a traditional history class. The ISP, “Books that Changed America,” looks “at books which, in one way or another, changed the U.S.,” Dr. Doina.said The idea for the ISP first came up in one of Dr. Doina’s USAP classes last year, where he “would tell [students] that a good student would read these various books and reports outside of class,” said Katy Terrell (‘07). When he brought this up, Terrell, who helped create the ISP but has chosen not to participate further, said that the students “would all try to explain that [they are] too busy for that. So now we have

See ISP on p. 3

KATHERINE CARMICHAEL | The Review

Wrestling Captain Buck Elkins (‘07) tries to pin an opponent using a half nelson during a meet.

By MAX SUSMAN To many people, wrestling is just another one of those obscure winter sports. But that is not how it is at all to Bryce Hollingsworth (’09).

“I enjoy wrestling more than any other sport. It’s so good it’s

on the same level as football,” Hollingsworth said. “But [wrestling] is different. In wrestling, if you mess up, it’s all on you, but in football, you have a team to back you up,” he said.

This year’s team has a lot of young blood, and Coach Alan Paul has a plan to take them to

CONSTRUCTION: KATHERINE KELLEY | The Review

the top. Led by seniors Buck Elkins (’07), David Sklar (’07) and Patrick Unger (’07), this year’s team is composed of mainly sophomores and freshmen.

“We have a lot of work to do with this young team,” Elkins

See WRESTLE on p. 19

After years of planning and construction, the North Campus construction ended over Winter Break. photo spread | page 2

COMPLETE!

news

2

January 2007

The Review

Phase Three finished After three years, construction on the North Campus is completed with the reopening of West Farish

Assistant Headmaster Mark Reed works in his new office.

The new classrooms, like David Nathan’s English classroom, in West Farish are now bigger.

The reopening of West Farish marks the completion of construction on the North Campus.

By COURTNEY CARVILL

Over the winter break, all entrances to West Farish were reopened.

Modeling the phrase “bigger is better,” the newly reconstructed West Farish provides more space for students, teachers and even Parents’ Guild.

Nancy Kelley (’77), who has been working at the Mothers’ Desk for the past six years, has seen the school go through many changes. “I remember when the second floor used to be apartments for teachers. Now its huge rooms—for every three rooms that were there before, there are two big ones,” she said.

Mrs. Kelley said she is “pretty amazed at the transformation” and believes it was a necessary change. “Now that this side is an all Upper School campus, kids are bigger and so are their backpacks.”

Spanish teacher Aline Means now teaches her classes in an enormous room with a new Promethean board. “It makes teaching so much easier,” she said.

“There’s more space for the technology, there aren’t wires running everywhere and I get to use the Promethean Board everyday.”

In addition to bigger classrooms and more hallway space, much needed storage closets are tucked into the corners of the new addition. There’s a closet for used uniforms, which features cubbies and an organized hanging space, and a Parent’s Guild closet, which will provide room for everything from the scrapbooks to Christmas decorations to archives.

Now that the entire Upper School is connected, students can spread out through the many halls of the upper and lower quad to get to their destinations. Things remain quiet around the once heavily stampeded area by the Headmaster’s office and the Mothers’ desk.

After a semester in the front office with Mrs. Jay, the Mothers’ Desk has returned to its former location in West Farish. “It’s quieter here. There was definitely more action over there,” Mrs. Kelley said.

Maybe the fact that students are not quite accustomed to walking the old route past the fireplace shows that the new addition is working effectively. Bigger hallways seem to spread out traffic flow and provide multiple ways to get to one place.

All photos by Katherine Kelley (‘08)

news 3 Student revive campus recycling efforts The Review

January 2007

By MARGARET GREENBERG If you have noticed the recent reappearance of blue recycling bins in your classrooms, you can thank Julian Helfenstein (’08) and Eric Elliott (‘08) for their efforts.

According to Elliott, “Helfenstein was the one who really noticed that [the school] had a lack of sufficient [paper] recy-

cling stuff. With all the construction and stuff [SJS] really didn’t have enough recycling bins and [SJS] didn’t have an efficient pick-up system.”

Together, the boys brainstormed and shared their ideas with both Dean Dan Alig and Priscilla Elliott, the ECOS sponsor. The boys also enlisted the help of ECOS, the student-run environmentalist group. The

annual day 2006 speakers Jamie Adams ‘96 Paul Beebe ‘96 Susan Bush ‘99 David Caldwell ‘02 H. Scott Caven, Jr. Mike Cullinan Paul Davey ’82 Mhair Dekmezian ’04 John Dennis ’82 Robert Eifler ’98 Chuck Garwood Jerry Harper Stuart Kensinger ’81 Ann McCollum ’82 Matt Naylor ’02 Scott Neuberger ’99 Dan Parsley Nancy Perrier Candice Pool ’96 Nick Swyka ’98 Christian Triantaphyllis ‘99 Tracy Vaught ’73

sac spring representatives 9th class Emily Boozalis Stuart Dickerson

10th class George Alcorn Travis Foxhall Caroline Parks 11th class Ellis Bowen Jeff Derbyshire Laynie Johnson Jack Mauel

result was the placement of blue bins in nearly every classroom in the Upper School. The system is kept in order by Helfenstein, Elliott, and a group of friends who meet every Thursday in the library to begin their rounds.

“Across the street, at the far end of the Lower School, there’s a big recycling bin, and that’s where (the contents of

the blue bins) goes. Some company comes by and picks it up,” said Elliott. “If we get enough people out there, we can get it done really quickly.”

Besides the perk of making the campus greener, SJS receives money from the recycling company based on the amount of paper placed in the bin. Elliott hopes that “we can get a bigger bin” because at this point, the volunteers are “collecting more paper than we have room for.

[But] so far it’s been really successful.”

Although most students have not paid much attention to campus recycling in the past, Elliott hopes that seeing the bins in classrooms will encourage students to get involved.

“Beforehand I really hadn’t thought about (recycling), but I’m glad I’m getting to [help],” he said. Elliott advises students, “Wherever you see a blue recycling bin, just put all your printer paper, colored paper, cardboard, newspaper, any paper products in the bins instead of the trash and keep the trash out of [the recycling bins].”

Elliott and Helfenstein are continuing to brainstorm, and Elliott mentioned such future projects as dealing with the abundance of aluminum and Styrofoam in the cafeteria, as well as recycling plastics

around campus.

Helfenstein, especially, is taking initiative to make SJS a greener campus. He recently penned a proposal to the headmaster and administration with several tips that will not only benefit the campus but could also potentially save the school money “in the pretty short run.”

Helfenstein highlighted a few of his ideas, such as “installing energy-saving light bulbs, having printers print on two sides of paper, increasing insulation so not as much energy goes to waste, having air-conditioning timers and using them more effectively, [utilizing] digital thermostats, using fans instead of air conditioning [and] installing shades.”

Helfenstein’s proposal is currently being considered by the administration, who, according to Helfenstein, “were already considering making the campus greener.”

TOP: Julian Helfenstein (’08), Shouse and Eric Elliott (‘08) dump the scrap paper they collected from the Upper School into the recycling bin, which is located in the Lower School.

Photos courtesy of Tucker Shouse (‘08)

School increases security

By EMILY FOXHALL It is no longer easy for a stray Houstonian to wander onto the SJS campus. Due to a stronger emphasis on the safety of the SJS community, the school has begun putting new security measures into effect that will control the flow of people into the school.

“I think the problem that happened up in Pennsylvania with the Amish school was really a wake-up call for us,” said Greg Swann, Director of Finance and Operations. “We’ve always considered security really important but I think [it caused us to take] a really hard look at things.”

This year, SJS has increased its focus on ensuring school safety. “The problem that we face is this is a really open campus,” said Mr. Swann.

“It’s a nice set-up, but it’s very difficult from a security standpoint.”

The obvious way to fix this problem was through first securing the boundaries of the campus. “We want to make the perimeter a little less accessible to strangers,” Headmaster John Allman said.

“The previously unlocked and easily-accessible pedestrian gates are now all locked and can only be opened through their specific key code. Also, the school is moving increasingly toward electronic gates for automobile entrances that close automatically.

Though it may seem SJS is trying to lock out all visitors, in reality it is a step the administration thinks is necessary to ensure the safety of the students and teachers. “We’re not trying to keep kids, faculty and parents from using the pedestrian gates, but we are trying to keep people who don’t have any connection with the school from just walking onto campus,” Mr. Swann said.

Many exterior building doors have been locked, including most Middle School doors and the door by the inside stairwell in Mewbourne.

Plans to build a fence on the Lower School side of the Lower School parking lot located next to the playground are also being finalized. “We have an art room in the Lower School literally 20 feet off of Westheimer, and we just want to protect the Lower School a little bit better and funnel everyone towards the main parking off of Buffalo Speedway,” Mr. Swann said.

On top of the physical changes, the school has added two additional people to observe the comings and goings of people on campus. An additional Riverdale officer has been added to the SJS security team, which previously consisted of one police officer and a drive-by patroller.

However, the school recently added on a third

member: Mohammed Rafieha. Dressed in SJS garb, Mr. Rafieha’s “job is to greet people as they come onto the South Campus, to be visible [and] to try to help, but [also] to keep his eyes open,” said Mr. Swann. “My goal for him is to be the friendliest person on campus [so] the kids know him, the parents know him, but he’ll be there looking for people that don’t belong.”

Though he is not a security officer, Mr. Rafieha has a radio with him to use to call for help if needed. “We’re a little anxious about a stranger wandering onto the campus [so] we’re trying to keep an eye on people entering the campus,” said Mr. Allman.

The administration also plans to talk to security firms to make sure it has covered all of the bases.

The firms will “lend their expertise on ways to harden our campus,” said Mr. Swann.

In the future, the school also hopes visitors will sign in at designated locations and receive a visitor’s badge. “We’d like to get to the point that if you see somebody on campus you don’t recognize that doesn’t have a visitor’s badge, it will be so unusual that you’ll [say] ‘Why are they here?’” Mr. Swann said. “That will be a challenge because we have a lot of people on campus every day that belong here, and we want to do it the right way so parents and others don’t feel like we don’t want them on campus.”

Students are also becoming involved with the SJS security increase. The recently re-introduced “Chidsey Drill” was practiced in the SJS Upper School on Dec. 8. “It’s a lockdown drill,” Mr. Allman said. “It would be a way to secure [the school] from that threatening presence as it was taken care of. We’ve had the procedure for years; we just thought we needed to start practicing.”

The drill was instigated by an announcement on the loudspeaker. Then, in each classroom, the teacher locked the door and turned off the lights while students went to sit quietly in the safest place possible located within the room.

“At any point during the day, significant numbers of Upper School students are on their own,” said Mr. Swann. “We need to practice to understand how best to help these students in the event of an emergency. I’m not apologetic for the need to try to make sure we know what to do and understand where the challenges lie.”

Despite the many measures taken to increase security, however, SJS does not want its character to change. Mr. Swann said, “We want to stay St. John’s, with the same culture that we have, but we want to take those steps that make sense in order to provide better security.”

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news The Review

January 2007

International Club and Jewish Affinity Group celebrate the holidays

By ANOUSHKA SINHA On Dec. 12, the last regular school day of the fall semester, two clubs ushered in some holiday cheer. During lunch, both the International Club and Jewish Affinity Group organized cultural celebrations

that enriched the afternoon as well as the menu.

The International Club set up in the cafeteria, celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and a European Christmas holiday called Sankta Lucia, or St. Lucy’s Day. “It’s celebrated in Scandinavian countries as

a festival of light during their darkest part of the year,” said International Club President Blanche Jamail (’08).

The International Club lent the cafeteria flavor with diverse music and food. “I don’t know if everyone got to catch it, but faculty sponsor Jessica Lopez-

DAN PERENYI | The Review

Laura Diaz (‘08) serves eggnog during International Club’s Holiday celebration. In addition to celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, the club introduced Sankta Lucia, a European Christmas holiday dedicated to St. Lucy, to Upper School students.

ISP cont. from p. 1 a

class-like forum to read these books and discuss them.”

Nine seniors ended up choosing to participate in the ISP, which Terrell considers “an in-depth extension of [the USAP] class” she took with Dr. Doina. Vivian Mullin (‘07), one of the students involved in the ISP, said, “My biggest problem with history courses is reading and memorizing a huge textbook, [and] this one seemed different.”

Also, Mullin wanted to read American literature from a different viewpoint than her junior English class.

The students planned to read five books and discuss them in seminars, with a different facilitator for each meeting.

The students’ original idea was to take part in a reading-based college-style seminar, but it soon became apparent that an ISP was “the more logical path,” said Dr. Doina. Following the ISP guidelines for the class gave Dr. Doina and the students more flexibility, and they were able to create the different components for the group ISP seminar.

After determining the seminar-style structure of the ISP, students submitted lists of books they would be interested in reading. Dr. Doina consolidated into a master list of 22 books and then handed out the list to students. They met on Dec 5, 2006 to choose their final reading selections for the ISP. The books on the original list ranged from relatively short— Thomas Paine’s Common Sense at 64 pages—to those with daunting lengths— The Octopus by Frank Norris, 688 pages.

The students in the ISP are breaking into smaller groups in order to read and discuss different books. This breakdown was a practical necessity, as many of the students do not have the same free periods and could not meet together.

To help connect students in different groups, students in the ISP are exploring the possibilities of many different types of discussions, such as face-to-face seminars, online chat rooms and even setting up webcams to talk outside school hours.

The students are required by ISP guidelines to meet at least once a week with

suarez had a Kwanzaa carol on her iPod that was very festive.

I liked it a lot,” said Jamail. The club also provided cookies, eggnog and a type of saffron bun called lussekatter, which means “Lucy cats.” “I think they were more fun to make than eat, though,” said Jamail.

The winter holiday party was only part three of a series of celebrations that the International Club has provided this school year. They also hosted “Oktoberfest” in honor of Germany and a “fiesta” to pay tribute to Mexican culture. In addition, they plan to continue organizing similar parties this semester as well as participate in International Day to celebrate the diverse cultures of Africa.

While the International Club presided over the cafeteria, the mini-quad housed the Jewish Affinity Group’s first Hanukkah party. From homemade latkes to a dreidel competition, the club’s celebration was “pretty traditional,” according to faculty sponsor Daniel Friedman.

In addition, the party had a creative and tasty spin with edible dreidels made of marshmallows, chocolate kisses and pretzel sticks. “You glue the Hershey’s kiss to the marshmallow with peanut butter, then you put the pretzel on top, and you eat it,” explained Mr. Friedman.

The club also had “a whole bunch of people doing a mas-

in brief

Dr. Doina, and they also have to meet with Dwight Raulston (‘71), the ISP coordinator, every few weeks. Parents and other faculty members are also encouraged to attend student discussions.

Students in the ISP are beginning the semester with books of high interest among all the students. However, due to different themes—such as the role of women—and different types of books— including biographies, autobiographies, novels based on reform and those centered on the progressive era—the different groups will also be led by different teachers. Richard Mercado (’79) will be helping with the seminar, and Stephen Popp will possibly lend a hand as well.

Among the five books that the students have chosen to read are Common Sense

by Thomas Paine, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, All the President’s Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein and Walden by Henry David Thoreau, which collectively constitute more than 1,000 pages. Each student is to pick a fifth book of their choice to read. Terrell, who has taken USAP, modern US history seminar and government, believes that “knowing the historical context for these books will be invaluable and make the discussion more interesting and advanced.”

Before the winter break, students met to finalize the plans for the ISP, narrow down the original list to their final book list and write the ISP application with Dr. Doina. They also set the date for their first discussion of this semester. Over winter break, the students began reading their first book, Common Sense, so they could begin the ISP early in the semester.

Every ISP requires a final project, and since the focus of this ISP is student discussion, the culminating project will be a panel discussion with different teachers.

Perhaps inspired by the new ISP, members of the History Club are also considering reading books with historical ties.

Addressing the new ISP, Dr. Doina said, “I am always excited when students take some initiative and control of their own learning. In this situation, they have proposed several books that I have not read, so it is a learning experience for me as well.”

sive dreidel tournament,” said Mr. Friedman. “It was going pretty hot and heavy.” In spite of wielding his lucky dreidel, Mr. Friedman ended up losing to Seth Koslov (’07).

The Jewish Affinity Group had been planning on hosting a “‘Menorah Tea,’ [as in] Senior Tea and a play on the word ‘minority’, so that sort of stuck, and we never actually had the tea, so the idea was…[to] have a party instead,” said Mr. Friedman.

Students and teachers flocked to the mini-quad to partake in the festivities, and if it was any measure of the party’s success, they ran out of food.

“What made it nice, too, was that the International Club was also doing a holiday celebration inside the cafeteria, so they had a variety of food and drink, and we had our Hanukkah portion of it, so it worked out really well,” said Mr. Friedman. “The weather was perfect, we had music, we had decorations, we had the whole thing—it was like a little party.”

The International Club and Jewish Affinity Group diffused the spirit of the season through their celebrations of various winter holidays. With the pressures that accompanied impending exams, students and teachers alike were grateful for an hour to eat, drink and be merry. In Jamail’s words, “everyone was happy about eggnog and a distraction from exams.”

On Jan. 4, 2007, the St. John’s Career Education Evening was held on the Upper School campus. Current SJS seniors and juniors, in addition to alumni from 1996 to 2006, were invited to hear various Houstonians speak about their occupations. Eighteen speakers were divided into different rooms where they spoke for about five minutes each before answering questions.

“It is an evening where the alumni board brings in successful Houstonians from their career fields to speak to the students,” said Alumni Coordinator Sarah Bernard (‘82). “It’s similar to Annual Day except it’s more career-driven than topic-driven.”

Headmaster John Allman and members of the Alumni Board facilitated conversations with the speakers about education, finance, technology and media, energy, law and healthcare.

- Emily Foxhall

January 2007

beyondSJS

5

The Review

Photos Courtesy of Wesley Hunt

Wesley Hunt (‘00) takes a picture of himself in his Apache cockpit. Hunt entered West Point after graduating from St. John’s and began serving in 2006.

Wesley Hunt graduates from West Point, serves as Apache pilot HUNT cont. from p. 1 Wrendon (’01) enrolled at West Point only one year later.

Though a West Point education technically does not cost any money, Hunt explained the financial factor did not affect his decision to attend the school.

“The money doesn’t matter so much—there is no amount of money that’s worth your life,” he stated. “West Point is the opportunity to challenge yourself at a very prestigious school and get to serve your country, which not many people can say that they’ve done.”

In March 2006, after completing flight school, Hunt was assigned to a unit already stationed in Iraq and received news of his upcoming tour of duty. Just two months later he was en route to Iraq for six months of active service.

“My mom obviously was not happy to see her son be put in harm’s way,” Hunt remarked.

“It’s never really an exciting thing to send your kid off to war. […] With my father being in the military, we sort of knew what to expect.” Hunt said that he “absolutely had concerns” about leaving the US and venturing to Iraq. “Although it is my job, something I trained to do,” he explained, “there is always a possibility of not returning home.”

Though Hunt was the first of his siblings to be deployed overseas, both his sister and his brother have subsequently been assigned to locations in the Middle East for active duty.

Hunt’s sister D’Hania arrived in Iraq in October 2006 and is stationed near Baghdad International Airport. As a military intelligence officer, “she gathers intelligence on enemies’ actions, predicts what they’re

going to do next, and relays the information to the ground troops,” he explained. “She’s called me a few times from Baghdad. She’s doing well.”

Hunt said that news of both his and his sister’s deployment was a “double whammy” to the rest of his family. “I returned home when my sister left, and I know that relieved some of the anxiety,” he said.

Hunt’s brother Wrendon has a slightly different story that that of his older siblings. As a member of the navy, he will deploy to the Persian Gulf in January 2007. Hunt remarked, “We’ve had our fill in the military!”

During his residence in Baghdad, Hunt lived in a trailer and even enjoyed cable TV in his room. He felt fortunate that he could e-mail home nearly everyday and was able to call roughly twice a week.

Hunt’s responsibilities in Baghdad were his “first opportunity to use some tactics and ideas from West Point.” For the final three months of his deployment, he flew 210 combat hours over Baghdad as a platoon leader. During the previous three months, he worked with the Intel department in Baghdad, which involved “less actual combat.”

“I’ve been in flight school for the previous two years, but this was my first experience with a real unit in the army,” Hunt explained. “Assuming a platoon leader position was new to me as well.”

Hunt explained that although his position in the air was dangerous, the soldiers in conflict on the ground had much more difficult obstacles to overcome.

“From my perspective from the air, our biggest threat is the missile,” Hunt explained. “The ground guys had it very rough,

way harder.” He continued, “It’s hard to shoot at moving aircraft—they shot at us, don’t get me wrong—but we’re traveling at roughly 250 miles per hour, very hard to shoot. It’s very hard to pinpoint aircraft like that. The ground guys were much easier targets.”

Hunt said that improvised explosive devices were the biggest risk to most of the forces. IEDs, often referred to as roadside bombs in the media, are commonly used by the Iraqi insurgents. “They would cut away pieces of the roads, put bombs underneath, recement the roadway, and wait for our forces to drive by [to detonate],” Hunt described. “They would [even] put bombs in dead carcasses.”

From his unique bird’s eye perspective as a pilot, Hunt witnessed the devastation and destruction of Baghdad. “I can say now, I truly appreciate the American way of life,” explained Hunt. “Seeing how the everyday Iraqi person lived really opened my eyes.”

Comparing the ruin to the largest recent disaster in the US, he remarked, “Flying over Baghdad makes [Hurricane] Katrina look like absolutely nothing.” The Iraqis lacked common utilities that most Americans take for granted. “There are no septic systems or electricity, and if there is [electricity] it goes out all the time. It’s just insane!” he exclaimed. “There are no formal trash disposal services. Trash is everywhere; it’s just unbelievable. They’re just living in trash.”

Hunt explained that though the US forces in Iraq have positive intentions, some Iraqi people simply are not responsive to the efforts. “A lot of things that we’re doing are good things to help out the Iraqi people. Our

purpose there is to help out the local nationals, and we’re doing just that,” said Hunt.

However, he explained that some Iraqi civilians are “very hostile [and] very violent.”

“The people that we’re [fighting] for are not very receptive to change because they’ve been indoctrinated to believe certain things for some time,” he said.

“We think we can change the way they think, but we really can’t. […] We’re trying to help people that really don’t know how to help themselves.” He continued, “We need more soldiers there to complete our mission—of course, we are not going to send any more soldiers there. The problem is that not everybody understands how we’re helping and exactly what we’re doing.”

Currently, Hunt is stationed at Fort Hood in central Texas, the largest active duty armored post in the United States Armed Services. While the rest of his unit returned home from their deployment, he was allowed to take a month off from duty.

Though he claimed to be doing “not too much of anything” during the month of December, he said, “We’ll start training up again in more rigorous rotation in January.” Plans for redeployment loom on the notso-distant horizon of 2008, but Hunt said, “Hopefully that will change.”

Hunt explained that the most profound lesson he learned while in Iraq was the importance of cultural tolerance and respect. “Be mindful of where one’s background is and know where people are coming from,” Hunt advised. “To all that are going to be leaders—and SJS is a hub for leaders—be careful and wary of cultural and religious differences. Just be respectful.

There are certain things that you just can’t change.” He remarked, referring to the conflict he just witnessed in Iraq, “If we all knew that, we would be in way better shape.”

Wesley Hunt (‘00) sits in his Apache cockpit.

6

beyondSJS The Review

January 2007

Photo Courtesy of David Noel

SJS basketball alumnus David Noel makes the varsity team at UVA

By MADDIE MCDOWELL Maybe you’ve heard his name tossed around school, or you remember number 23 tearing down the basketball court.

Whatever the case, David Noel (’06) has left the cloisters as a basketbal legend, and, now a student at UVA, is a member of their varsity basketball team.

Noel first stepped on campus in first grade, playing basketball intensely in Middle School, but after eight solid years at SJS he decided it was time for a change and switched to Lamar.

“It was…a combination of a lot of factors, I can’t say enough good things about both schools, and while I was not dissatisfied with St. John’s after Middle School…I was ready for something new,” said Noel.

While attending Lamar, he began to focus his energies on his love of basketball.

“I was playing football and basketball up until my junior year,” said Noel, “ [But] I quit football because it wasn’t…really my sport, and so after that I really had the time and the opportunity to pursue basketball…full time, and so…that’s when I really started working hard at it.”

As his passion for the sport increased, however, Noel decided to return to SJS for his senior year and eventually became the captain of the varsity squad.

He said, “I think Lamar’s a great school, and it was nice to play sports there, but I also had a great time my senior year playing basketball at St. John’s, and I really enjoyed the coaches there, and the coaches at Lamar were great [too], so both places sports were fun.”

At UVA, however, Noel noticed many differences between his life and college. Academically, Noel said, “The biggest difference…is getting used to a different grading system, because in high school, your final grade is kind of a sum of a lot of different….smaller grades, and in college it’s a lot different because you just have…. two or three grades the whole

semester to determine your final grade, and that puts a lot of pressure to be prepared for the exams that you have.”

“As far as basketball,” he said, “the biggest difference for me, personally, probably was assuming a much different role on the team than I was used to in high school because in high school…my contribution to the team would be more along the lines of scoring and rebounding and doing the things that people would probably consider of a basketball player, but I think that [at UVA] …the things that I can do to help the team are…less noticeable if you were to look at the statistics because its [things] like working hard at practice, playing defense hard, and pushing my teammates because they’re the ones that are going to go out on the floor every night and compete for the team.”

Noel also commented on the sometimes cumbersome time-commitment that goes hand in hand with playing a varsity college sport, saying “the hardest thing for me was that the first couple months I was up here I wasn’t playing basketball, and when I joined the team…my life kind of took a one-eighty because [basketball] really does….consume a lot of your time. I wouldn’t say that…you’re necessarily at a disadvantage academically but…it’s hard when…the people who are in your classes don’t have that same time commitment, and…sometimes it’s frustrating when…you have to come straight out from practice and go to the library.”

Noel detailed his grueling daily schedule, which includes a four hour practice everyday.

“That’s what you do if you play basketball here,” he said.

“And on game days, it’s really a full day commitment, and the…couple days before, we watch film a lot which is an additional time commitment….

It really is a lot, but like everything else you get used to it, and as long as you manage your time well and you’re

efficient with your work, it’s definitely manageable.”

He added “You really just don’t have a whole lot of free time if you put a lot of emphasis on academics while still trying to play basketball and probably any other varsity sport.”

Despite the tremendous commitment, Noel does not expect to play basketball professionally.

He said with a laugh “Well, I think if you ask… anyone who loves the sport they’re going to tell you…‘Of course I would love to’, but unfortunately, I don’t think I was blessed with the athletic ability to pursue that as a career.”

Instead, currently enrolled in Spanish, economics, statistics, astronomy and psychology, Noel plans to enter the business world later in life. “One of the factors…that influenced my decision when choosing UVA was the comm e r c e s c h o o l

here,…a business program that you enroll in after sophomore year, and so I’m hoping to do that, and probably look for a job in investment banking after four years here, but of course that’s a tentative plan and definitely open for change,” he said.

Well along his collegiate path, Noel is optimistic for the future, both academically and athletically. He concluded his thoughts in stating “I’m hoping for the best for the varsity team this year.”

beyondSJS

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The Review

January 2007

Just Beyond

By ANJALI SALVADOR Houston, Texas It’s incredibly hard to miss them, driving down Buffalo Speedway—the golfer, the giraffes, and various other creations. The topiaries of River Oaks Plant House have been something of a landmark for years. To get to the VST, turn left into the gate across from the topiaries. It works.

The Houston Chronicle wrote that “[t]he River Oaks Plant House is nationally known for its expertly sculptured topiaries, build in any size to almost any design…This is garden-

ing for the sheer fun of it.”

David, a manager at the River Oaks Plant House, also emphasized the versatility of their designs.

“We can make anything,” he said. “If someone comes in with an idea, like ‘oh, I want a dragon and a butterfly and a seahorse,’ we can make them as well.”

The topiary-making process is a laborious one. Construction begins with stainless steel, welded together in the desired shape. The frame is then stuffed with moss, providing a base on which the top layers of plants can grow. After that, hearty plants—usually ivy—are planted into the moss in strategic spots.

The results are topiaries in a variety of styles and shapes, ranging from dinosaurs to monkeys that actually hang from trees.

The topiaries of the River Oaks Plant House can be seen gracing the lawns of many local houses.

David recalled a particularly original use. “There is a house just south of Greenbriar with three dancing bears—the dad, the mom, and the son. And every time the season changes, they dress them up. They do back-toschool with backpacks and crayons, Santa for Christmas, eggs for Easter.” Landmarks, indeed.

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beyondSJS The Review

January 2007

Reflections from Africa Scott Rubin in Nairobi A past SJS physics teacher’s experiences in Kenya | Every other month, here in beyondSJS

A

funny thing happened last month when we went to the Nairobi National Park. We were surrounded by giraffes. First one came over to look at the car, then a second, and then a third.

Eventually there were a dozen.

If they were snarling, I would have been scared, but unless they mistook us for leaves we were pretty safe. However, I confess that I felt a little out of place. Were we in the giraffes’ home or were they in ours?

That question takes on a bigger meaning when you think about the National Park itself.

It’s a real game park- hundreds of square kilometers with lions and rhinos and baboons - but to my knowledge it’s the game park situated entirely in the city limits of a major metropolitan area. So there in the car are people, but just outside it is the wild, but then the wild is surrounded by more people.

So who is out of place and who isn’t?

I had a similar feeling a few days later when I tried to help my wife around the house. I had a month off for the Christmas Holidays, and I woke up one morning and saw the pile of work Lenny had and I wanted to help. I decided to start on the laundry; something I used to be able to do by hand back in my Peace Corps days.

You have a basin full of soapy water and a basin full of clean water and – well, I don’t need to spell it out; it’s pretty self-explanatory, but I found after one shirt my back was killing me. I guess I’m getting old. Cleaning clothes and cleaning the floor here both require you to bend at the waist for long periods of time, and I just can’t do it. Furthermore, I used to do both of those jobs back at the States.

Laundry, in particular, was my strong point. I was a master of putting quarters in the machine and moving clothes from one machine to the other.

I stood in the living room while my wife laughed at me feeling useless and out of place.

It gave me a sense of how she must have felt when she went to employment agencies in Houston and they asked her for her computer proficiencies.

For the record, though, I can

The Review

do dishes and I feel like I’ve been doing that more than anything else this holiday.

The biggest example of when I felt like a fish out of water was when we went Christmas Shopping at a place called Garissa Lodge. My wife and I had been looking for clothes for the kids in a place called “The Mother of All International Malls” in Nairobi City Center (it was just a few clothe stalls; it didn’t live up to its billing at all), and found exorbitant prices and cheap material, and Lenny said she knew of a place a few kilometers away where we could find some deals. That place was Garissa Lodge, and it was a huge open air market consisting of kiosks full of clothes, shoes, and body oils.

I wanted to take a picture to please my editor, but a picture wouldn’t do the place justice and Lenny told me my digital camera would get nabbed within seconds. The place was teeming with people, and all kinds of people at that. It was in the middle of the Muslim part of town, so I at one end of the spectrum was women covered head to toe except for the eyes, and at the other end was the guy selling hats by wearing 50 at a time. At one point Lenny realized she wouldn’t get any bargains with me nearby, so she told me to wait at a corner as she dissolved into the crowd. To pass the time, I tried to count the number of shoe stalls I saw. More than twelve.

A mall that sells mostly women’s shoes. I guess some things never change. Still, I was extremely conscious of how little I fit into that place. I knew, for example, that I would never be able to find Lenny in the crowd, but that she could find me in five seconds. All she needed to do was look for the white guy.

The point is that sometimes it’s nice to be out of place, sometimes it’s funny, and sometimes it’s just not very pleasant.

Standing there as the only white guy in Garissa lodge made me think of issues of race and fitting in, and it reminded me of a book on my shelf that my St. John’s students always used to ask me about. I’d had it since my days teaching public school – it was called: Why do

All the Black Kids Sit Together in the Cafeteria. My white students used to ask me the same question, and I would always tell them that it’s perfectly normal to want to be around people who look like you and come from a common background as you when you are very few. I wouldn’t have minded, for example, being around one or two other western white people instead of all alone that day at Garissa lodge. This is despite the fact that I was perfectly safe and that most of the other shoppers didn’t seem to care that much about me one way or the other. I simply didn’t feel comfortable.

“The key, Mr. Reed told me, was to make sure all the students felt comfortable where they were.”

It also made me think about some conversations I’d had with Mr. Reed over the years at St. John’s regarding diversity there, and the question that always seemed to come up was: how diverse is diverse enough?

I remember in particular one lunch in which I was talking to Mr. Reed about numbers.

At the time I was considering bringing my son to St. John’s and I felt pretty strongly that he would feel out of place, and I was asking him about numbers. Mr. Reed told me that the exact numbers didn’t matter.

One person in the minority can be comfortable in the right environment, and a thousand can be uncomfortable in the wrong environment. The key, Mr. Reed told me, was to make sure all the students felt comfortable where they were.

And I always wondered: how do you know people are comfortable? I’d taught at public school before moving to St. John’s and while the school was definitely more diverse, there were racial incidents all the time. In fact, I’d never seen a school at which all students felt comfortable regarding their race with respect to the makeup of the school.

I think I know the answer to that question, but before I give it, let me address another: why

should anyone care about racial diversity in private schools anyway?

Education, you see, is a valuable thing. When you have a good education, doors open up regardless of your socioeconomic background. However, it’s hard to get a good education when you are poor. That concept was glaringly clear to me when I sat with my seven year old son Albert and his eight year old cousin last month writing some math problems for them to work on during the break, Albert had been told to work on doubling, so I was writing problems like 86 + 86 for him, and I’m happy to say he can do them now mostly in his head. The way his cousin’s teacher had instructed him to do problems like that was to draw a bunch of tallies and count them up. Her exercise book was full of what looked like chicken scratches for very simple problems.

There’s no doubt that Kenyan public education offers less than American public school, particularly since the new policy of free primary education opened the floodgates for hundreds of thousands of kids who had been out of school for years. My niece, for example, despite adding by tallies, is fourth ranked out of a class of a hundred and four. Nevertheless, private education is in general superior to public education wherever you go. This is a sad fact, and it could be the subject for another article, but the point is that if private schools like St. John’s produce the best educated children who will be the scientific, political, and medical leaders of the future, then they have a moral obligation to make that education available to a diverse student body. Private schools that teach only white or mostly white affluent students perpetuate a class system that is based on race.

The fact is that the greater the comfort level of minorities, the more will seek to attend.

I have to say that while St. John’s does a lot of things better than any other school I’ve ever seen in my life, achieving racial diversity is not one of them. It isn’t easy to achieve racial balance at a good school. In fact,

I’d never seen real racial balance anywhere until this year at Hillcrest.

About one third of the students here are white, about one third are African, and about one third are Asian. For the first time in my life, I’ve seen free and open interaction between different races, and by that I mean you don’t really see clusters of just one race sitting together at break or at lunch, and you do see groups of different races walking together, or even holding hands and snuggling.

Hillcrest has its own problems as does any school, but the comfort level of different races is not one of them. I confess that in the past I’ve wondered if such a balance were even possible, but now I’m pretty sure it is. Wherever I look I see here I see a mix of students: mixed in their clusters at break or lunch (or tea), mixed where they sit at assembly, mixed and comfortable as they walk from class to class. This isn’t something you can force, but I think you do know when you have it and I think that’s good news.

“I challenge you to look around and ask yourself if St. Johns has achieved a high enough level of interracial comfort.”

I challenge you to look around and ask yourself if St. Johns has achieved a high enough level of interracial comfort. In my opinion, at least by last year, the answer was no. There’s nothing wrong with all the kids of Indian descent eating together at lunch, any more than with all the white people at Garissa lodge standing together. But once people become truly comfortable with their environment, those clusters will fade away. And that makes me think I know the answer to the question I used to talk about with Mr. Reed: how do you know when you have enough diversity? You have enough racial diversity when there is no longer a need to self-segregate based on race. That isn’t a number either, it’s a state of mind, and it makes me happy to see it.

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features The Review

January 2007

Roy Barnes, drawing from life experiences, impacts student body in his work

Roy Barnes pauses from his work in the Athletics building to pose for a picture, his happiness and contentment raditating.

By JORDAN THOMAS He’s one of the most well known people on campus, but few can say they really know much about Roy Barnes.

Few people know that Mr. Barnes is father and step-father to seven kids: Paula, Michelle, John Paul, Michael, Roy, Kaleb, and Kayden or that he is grandfather to five. Few people know that to him, time well spent is with his wife in his garden during the summer months, either at the beach, fishing, sitting on a porch and spending time with his lifelong hero, his father.

Any student, faculty member, teacher or coach who has spent extended time in the athletic building can probably say they have met, laughed with and been delighted by Roy Barnes.

“The best time of my day is when I see the students that come over for sports, and just to have a conversation or just to encourage that is by far my favorite part of the day. It’s life changing for me, I hope it’s life changing for them. The reason I say that is [because] I interacted with Kyle Parrish (‘01) when he was a student [here]. He and I will have a lifelong relationship because of it. I think the world of him.”

Mr. Barnes’ zeal for his faith is something that he takes much pride in. Not too many people are willing to openly share something they hold so dear to their heart with people who may not be like minded.

But it is his passion and love for Christ that has made Mr. Barnes the man he is today, he said.

When asked where this ardor for his religion comes from, he replied, “When a father is about to have his first child, and he is excited about the birth of that child, wouldn’t he tell everyone he meets about [it]? I am excited about Jesus Christ in my life, and I must tell someone about it”. He then smoothly quoted 2 Timothy 2, a scripture that explains much of why Mr. Barnes is so adamant about sharing his faith, he said. It reads: “If we disown Him, He will also disown us.”

Despite growing up in a religious environment (his father helped found the first black church in Alvin, Texas), Mr. Barnes says he didn’t truly become a Christian until his adult years.

“I had made a lot of poor decisions in my life, and I ended up at Open Door Mission, a men’s shelter. The first night I was there I walked out underneath this tree and called out on God. I made a trip to Heaven in my mind, and I dropped myself on God’s doorstep. Three days later God answered [my] prayer. I was on the city bus, and I heard God’s voice clearly for the first time in my life. He said, ‘Roy I got you.’ It reminded me of a song my grandmother used to sing: ‘The joy I feel, the world didn’t give it to me, and the world can’t take it away’. At that moment I understood what she meant by that. From that day on my life hasn’t been the same.”

Since then, Mr. Barnes says he has lived every day of his life as if he were a new believer, as if he has discovered a truth so amazing that it can’t possibly be known to only

him, but to the world, he said.

It was this fervor that prompted Mr. Barnes to attend seminary school. “When you go and study under men that have studied God’s word most of their lives, it is phenomenal,” he continued, saying he got closer in his relationship with God because he was “fortunate enough to have a living encounter with a living God.” As Mr. Barnes speaks about Jesus, or tells anyone about his religion, his face lights up. He becomes excited and laughs a lot, happy and eager to share his knowledge with others. But it is not until he talks about his role model, hero and influence, his father, that he really comes to life.

“The reason my father (Thomas Lee Barnes) is my hero is because he endured. He endured all the storms he had to [overcome] all his life. I asked him ‘If you could go back and change anything in your life what would you change?’ He said he would get an education. My father only went to the 3rd grade because [the sharecropper my grandfather worked for] said [his sons could no

longer attend school, but instead had to work in the fields].

So my father had to work hard all his life. At the age of seventy-four, my father went to Pearland High School to learn how to read. I can imagine the fear he went through in order to go back to school...”

KATHARINE CARMICHAEL | The Review

Like his father, Mr. Roy Lester Barnes is a bold, fearless man. Bold in the sense that he fears not sharing with others what is at the core of his heart and soul. Bold in the sense that everyday he makes an effort to touch, effect, and change the lives of others.

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features The Review

January 2007

Varied jobs around the school make SJS tick

Adam Cauble (‘09) raises the flag early in the morning dutifully, performing one of the many unrecognized jobs around the school.

By VAIL KOHNERTYOUNT To run a school as large as SJS successfully, many responsibilities must be shared among the members of the community.

Even the smallest jobs have an effect on the daily campus life of the students, faculty, and staff, whether raising the flag each day or maintaining the school website. Here are the stories of two individuals who make small but noticeable contributions to the SJS community.

Rebecca Rautio: Website Photos Every visitor to the SJS website is greeted by a row of four brass-instrument-playing students. Within six seconds, a gaggle of Lower School students parade across the screen outfitted in red jumpers and khaki pants, followed by a circle of dancers, an artsy shot of the

Though the task is only a small part of her job at SJS, it has a large, although often unrecognized, impact on the representation of the school.

VST courtyard, and the smiling faces of two cheerleaders.

At first glance, these photographs may not seem especially significant; however, the effort and time put into the selection of the pictures comes from a behind-the-scenes staff member, Communications

Coordinator Rebecca Rautio.

Ms. Rautio is in charge of selecting the photos for the website display and updating them at least once a semester. Though the task is only a small part of her job at SJS, it has a large, although often unrecognized, impact on the representation of the school.

The first step to posting the pictures on the website is finding usable pictures of school activities. “The photos used are usually taken during professional photo shoots held here at the School,” Ms. Rautio explained. “However, parents often submit photos taken during events they attend.” The photographs currently appearing on the website were taken and submitted by Kevin Long, parent of Zach Long (’12).

Choosing the pictures is also another piece of the process.

Ms. Rautio said she liked to “use photos of many varied activities and individuals.” She explained, “I try to use a balance of both male and female students, and I generally keep track of photos which have been used in the past to balance the subject criteria of each update.”

Before posting, Ms. Rautio said that she always asks the administrative team to review and approve all of the photos she selects. “I generally hear lots of great feedback when the photos are newly updated on the SJS home page,” she remarked. “Our community is always excited to see new images on the website, and it’s

especially exciting to those individuals who are featured.”

Ms. Rautio described the most difficult part of the process as the four-to-six week wait for the update to occur on the website. After the photos are selected and released to the Whipple Hill server, the new images must be coded and updated before they appear.

Adam Cauble: Flag Hoisting To those students who are dropped off daily at the carpool circle before the 7:45 morning bell, the red, white and blue banner at the top of the flagpole is probably taken for granted. A few might recognize it, but even fewer acknowledge the student who hoists it up each morning.

Adam Cauble (’09) is that student responsible for raising and lowering the flag each day. “I enjoy the job,” he said, “mainly because it’s quiet in the mornings when I put them up, and it’s relaxing in the afternoon to take them down.”

“I was asked to put up and take down the flags by Mr. Curry in the beginning of ninth grade,” Cauble explained. “He knew I was a Boy Scout, so I would have had some experience with flags.”

Though unexpected rain showers can potentially disrupt his schedule, adapting to the weather isn’t difficult.

“If it looks like it’s going to rain, I usually just don’t put them up,” Cauble explained.

Cauble said that the extra responsibility is not as tedious as it looks. “People sometimes ask me why I do it, and I usually say

JENNY LEWIS | The Review

I was asked to do it and I don’t mind,” he remarked. “Taking down the flags is a nice way to end the school day for me.”

features

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The Review

January 2007

Spanish Christmas far different from Christmas back in the States

By ELIZABETH RASMUSSEN Santa Claus only began visiting Spain on his yearly global tour about 30 years ago. Before Santa “came to town,” Spanish children relied on Los Reyes Magos (the three wise men) to fulfill their Christmas wishes.

While the Christmas season effectively ends in the United States when clocks strike midnight on December 25, in Spain, it lasts until January 6, the day Spanish children wakeup to houses full of presents.

The Spanish celebration of Reyes does not mean that the Spanish don’t celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December, but at least up until the last 30 years that celebration was a purely religious one. Since then, the tradition of Santa Claus (or Papa Noel, as the Spanish refer to him) has defused to Spain through France.

Spanish children typically receive one present from Santa Claus, but keeping with tradition, they then receive the majority of their other presents from los reyes on the morning of January 6.

After a good old American Christmas back in the states, by January 5, I was all geared up for a traditional Spanish holiday. That night, all eight of my Spanish nieces and nephews were eager for Los Reyes’ visit, each of their eyes lit up like the lights that decorated las calles de Zaragoza this holiday season.

On the night of the fifth, I

A snapshot of a Spanish Christmas in the form of a massive light-up manger scene. asked my eight-year-old nephew Luis Enrique why he was eating his hamburger without a bun, and he replied that eating it with the bun took too much time and that he could finish it faster and go to bed quicker (meaning Los Reyes would come sooner) if he just ate the hamburger patty.

Another nephew, the sixyear-old Jon, chose to cram himself alongside his 14-yearold brother in his older broth-

er’s twin bed for the night so that the morning of Reyes he would be able to run to his presents in the living room as fast as possible, not having to waste time making his own bed but rather leaving his older brother behind to do the grunt work.

My ten-year-old niece Amaya woke up at 1 a.m. to check and see if Los Reyes had come; seeing that they had, she then proceeded to wake up her three siblings so that they could also see

the presents that scattered the living room floor. The knowledge that Los Reyes did indeed bring all four of them presents then allowed them to sleep peacefully (until 6:00 a.m.).

After 17 Christmases, the holiday has not retained the same magic for me that it used to.

Now that all of the grandchildren in my American family are growing up, our house no longer fills up with the same energy that it used to on Christmas

Elizabeth Rasmussen (‘08) with some Spanish children as she anticipates a new style of Christmas in a different country.

Photo Courtesy of Elizabeth Rasmussen

Eve and Christmas morning.

Although this year I was not the one brimming with Christmas’ anxiety and anticipation, it was comforting to have those quintessential holiday feelings surrounding me that had begun to disappear in my American household. These old, unforgotten feelings made Spain feel more like home to me than it ever had before.

Photo Courtesy of Elizabeth Rasmussen

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features The Review

January 2007

Snapshots 2006

By LUISA BARRON

January

A beloved History teacher left SJS when Tracy Spaight departed from SJS after the first semester of the 2005-2006 school year. Mr. Spaight left after four and a half years of teaching at SJS to move to Atlanta for a career in video game development.

Not only did SJS lose a valuable part of the community, but also changes had to be made in the History department, including the use of several substitute teachers from within SJS filling in for Mr. Spaight.

The students who were displaced by Hurricane Katrina and who were embraced by the SJS faculty and student body for the most part began to return home. The SJS family wished the best of luck to our leaving students as they left SJS’s storied cloisters.

February

After much hype and anticipation, MADE finally came to SJS one Saturday afternoon, only to have all only six students audition. The announcement had been officially made by Mr. Wilson in January, but when the time came for the interviews to take place, there was a noticeably underwhelming turnout. However, the students that did show had some interesting ambitions, including becoming a comedian, professional diver and marathon runner.

Chapel was lightened up for Valentine’s Day, when we took a break from the traditional format. Instead, we heard from Blanche Jamail (’08) and Katherine Kelley (’08), and Upper School History teacher Stephen Popp and his wife, who all spoke on how “All You Need is Love.”

March

Earlier in the year, Ted Curry announced that he would step down as Dean of Students to teach fulltime again, starting an extensive selection process.

A student committee assisted several administrators to find an able replacement that, chosen from a diverse pool of candidates, was already at SJS: English teacher and college counselor Dan Alig.

The annual spring musical was a popular performance to attend, Johnnycake performed “Once Upon a Mattress,” Sevan Dekmezian (’06), last year’s president of Johnnycake, starred in the spirited rendition of the adaptation of “The Princess and the Pea.”

April Chapel on April 5th was held in St. John the Divine, the first chapel of the year to be held in the church, marking the end of construction on the church. Originally, Chapel was supposed to be moved back to the church at the beginning of the school year, then the second semester, but was held off by renovations until spring. Julia Weiser (’06) spoke about several religious-themed topics such as respecting different faiths.

Community Service Club was particularly busy as they became involved in a variety of projects. Several students performed for the newly developed Outreach Theater, which produces plays for the community’s widespread enjoyment. Also, Special Olympics was held at SJS under students’ leadership and with the help of many volunteers. Later in the month, a large group of students helped out on a local project for a highlyrated TV show, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

May SJS again proved to be dominant in Texas lacrosse, winning the state championship in the 2006 season.

After a close loss to Cy-Fair for the city championship, the girls team came back to defend their SPC and state titles, winning both for the second year in a row. And though SPC slipped away, boys lacrosse ended the strong season with not only a win over Episcopal for the city championship, but the experienced team led by two All-American players and captains Andy Gagel (’06) and Chris Root (’06), defeated the Episcopal School of Dallas for the state championship.

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The Review

January 2007

August The celebrations of 60th anniversary of SJS’s founding started at the beginning of the 2006-2007 school year. Celebratory activities for the milestone are to last all year long and included the allschool photo in September. From the start of the year, the commemoration is also meant to be an opportunity for everyone to think about the past, enjoy the present, and look to the future of SJS. After the hectic, construction-filled previous school year, most of the Quad opened up along with the east tunnel, providing some easier commuting for students. With only West Farish left to be opened, the school’s campus once again was fully accessible.

September The highly anticipated September 15 Episcopal game was a heartbreaking loss in overtime, however it was highlighted by a huge Maverick turn out for one of the biggest football games of the season. Some of the most intense fans came together to form the new Pots ‘n’ Pans, a group led by Patrick Wilkey (’09), Grant Williams (’09) and Jeff Wu (’09) that has since expanded to making some noise at all the football games and additional sporting events as the season went on.

The 2006-2007 year’s All-School Convocation took place on September 20th.

October

As it is every year, Kinkaid week was the highlight of October of 2006. Even though the all-school pep rally had to be moved inside the gym, the cheerleaders made the best of it and put on worthy performances.

Another Kinkaid Video was acted in by the football team, the captains Danny Ball (‘07), David Sklar (‘07), Derry Herlihy (‘07), and Matthew Ziemnicki (’07).

For the second year in a row, SJS defeated Kinkaid, 1917. The Mavericks were cheered on to victory by a huge number of fans, not to mention Pots ‘n’ Pans, on October 27th at Rice Stadium. Some highlights included…

The first Homecoming dance in recent memory was held by the Student Affairs Council on October 28th in the gym. The venture, themed “Under the Sea”, was met enthusiastically from its announcement in September. A crowd of formally dressed students, also some guests from other schools, attended and made the dance a huge success. Hopefully from this beginning, a new school tradition can be made for years to come.

November

The weeks leading up to the November 7th election were filled with aggressive campaigning-and we’re not talking about the midterm congressional elections. A mock campaign was held by the senior AP Government classes with candidates from three parties-Democrat, Republican and Independent. Everything from websites, debates and negative advertising was utilized in order to simulate a somewhat hostile campaign, much like the actual elections. The project was a great success and an interesting competition to watch, as Nora Niebruegge (’07) won the election over Jordan Thomas (’07) and Robert Howard (’07).

December

The SJS Blood Drive was once again a success as it netted a total of 82 donors, 44 of which were students. There were also 14 faculty donors.

For the first time in SJS history, Reading Day and midterms were made non-uniform days. After a semester of stricter uniform regulations, the string of free dress days were granted as a reward for students who have proved themselves able to abide by the uniform code.

Clockwise starting with top right: Matthew Lindley (‘09) and Timothy Bernica (‘09) cheering on the football team; Matthew Ziemnicki (‘07), Derry Herlihy (‘07) and David Sklar (‘07) at the Kinkaid Pep Rally; James Van Sweringen (‘08) donating blood; Deets Hoffman (‘06) playing during the Episcopal lacrosse game; Balpreet Purewal (‘08) and Christophe Kolandjian (‘08) at a community service project; US Counselor Pat Reynolds and the Dean Selection Committee in the spring.

The year in Review

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a&e The Review

January 2007

The Triangle Factory Fire Project heats up for opening Student actors discuss challenges, rewards of SJS winter production to run Jan. 25-27

By JADE LAW Christopher Piehler’s play

The Triangle Factory Fire Project recreates one of New

York City’s greatest disasters, the 1911 fire at a shirtwaist factory. This ensemble play was selected by director Anthony Leakey for SJS’s 2007 Black Box theatre production.

The historical fire occupied the Asch Building and took the lives of 146 helpless workers. Some died from the flames, while others were killed trying to flee by jumping down elevator shafts or windows. “Back then they used to lock the doors in the building so [the workers] couldn’t go out for breaks,” said Mr. Leakey, who explained that the workers would even be under strict surveillance while in the bathrooms.

Most of the victims were young immigrant women who toiled for hours in the factory.

The factory fire made the public realize that more effective fire fighting was needed and that keeping exit doors locked was dangerous. The Triangle Factory Fire Project blends together newspaper reports with passionate excerpts from the people directly or indirectly involved with the fire.

“It was an interesting historical play that I thought all the students could really learn from,” said Mr. Leakey.

He hopes that the audience will understand all of the benefits people have regarding safety in the workplace and that employee rights did not come about automatically.

“A lot of people suffered to bring those rights about, and we shouldn’t take them for granted,” said Mr. Leakey.

Working with this rather newly written play gives an additional benefit because

Clockwise from top left: Alexandra Addison (‘08), Ashley Tam (‘08), Laura Brill (‘10), Danielle Pike (‘08), James Van Sweringen (‘08) and Eric Elliot (‘08) rehearse a scene from the upcoming winter drama The Triangle Factory Fire Project.

SJS is the first high school to perform the dramatic hour and a half production.

Each person has three or four different character roles.

“They needed to be very versatile,” said Mr. Leakey

about the cast. He added, “All these people are supposed to be the “every man” that can go in and play every character as they develop.”

Alexandra Addison (’08) plays three different characters: Ber-

Clockwise from top left: Eric Elliot (‘08), Bach Mai (‘07), Scott Elder (‘07), Ashley Tam (‘08), Laura Brill (‘10) and Danielle Pike (‘08) rehearse on the unfinished set of the upcoming play.

tha, a grieving mother who lost a child in the fire. a girl who survives the fire and a witness of the fire Addison enjoys the unique organization of this play.

“There really isn’t a lead role,” said Addison. “Everyone has to work together and really work with the community. It’s a really great experience as an actor.”

She must master both a Russian and an Italian accent, since most of the workers in the factory are foreigners.

Looking forward to the Triangle-Factory-modeled set in the Black Box, Addison said, “It gives you a feeling of the Black Box… once we put the set together with the lights and the music, it’ll be amazing.”

Laura Brill (’10) plays four different characters: Yeta, a Russian immigrant who works at the factory; Ida; Rose, a strong-willed union organizer and Ethel, a “very bubbly and enthusiastic” 16-year-old.

Brill admits that she relates to Ethel’s vivacious disposition.

To distinguish which of the four people Brill is portraying during the play, she gives each character a unique quality and accent.

“I have to do a really thick Russian accent,” said Brill. “I’m going to watch Fiddler on the Roof.”

As a freshman, Brill did not think she was going to make the play but wanted to try her hardest.

“I’m really into theatre, and I thought it would be a really great experience,” She said, “I’m

looking forward to the whole thing… it’s what I live for.”

Eric Elliot (’08) plays three characters in The Triangle Factory Fire Project. His main character, Shepard, is a New York reporter who covers the story about the protests from the women shirtwaist workers. He also plays an engineer and one of the “sinister” factory owners.

“The play is designed in a very unusual way,” said Elliot, explaining how a newspaper angle is taken throughout the play. “There are a bunch of sequences where we’re reading headlines aloud. And from these headlines you’re supposed to convey the story about what’s happening in America at that time,” said Elliot.

“I’ve always had this thing for theatre and the arts,” said Elliot.

This is the first time Elliot has ever done a theatrical production in the black box. “I’m really lucky I’m working with people I like and get along with great.

It’s been a lot of fun so far.”

“It’s a really unique style of show, so I’m looking forward to see the audience’s reaction if we do this right and it conveys the appropriate message,” said Mr. Leakey. The play will show in the black box theatre January 25, 26, and 27. Mr. Leakey said, “I just think it’s one of those shows that if they don’t see it, they’ll definitely hear about it the next week and they’ll wish they had seen it.”

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The Review

January 2007

December Candlelight service “one of the best” yet

By LILIANA VARMAN One of the many traditions at SJS is the annual winter choral concert known as Candlelight. Candlelight took place on December 12 and was held in the St. John the Divine chapel. It included various holiday themed songs performed by the SJS choirs and members of the congregation with an accompaniment by organist and pianist Donald Doucet, Wind Ensemble, Chamber Strings, guest instrumentalists and Middle School strings players.

To put on a great show, all the ensembles needed ample time to practice. For this reason, the ensembles scheduled extra rehearsals after school the week before Candlelight. Les Chanteuses, which rehearses on Tuesdays and Thursdays, joined Chorale’s rehearsals on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Likewise, Chorale joined Les Chanteuses rehearsals on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Chamber Strings rehearsed with the two choirs on extra days as well.

The concert began with the song “Christmas Processional,” performed by St. John’s Singers, Cantatores, Boy Choir, Les Chanteuses and Chorale as the choirs entered into St. John the Divine chapel. Angela Brill, Lower School music teacher and co-director of St. John’s singers, accompanied the processional on the piano.

“Christmas Processional” is one of two songs that are sung every year at Candlelight. Les Chanteuses member Dhea Patel (’10) said that she loves the song because it’s a tradition, and “[She’s] sung it [every year] since fourth grade.”

The song was followed by the hymn “O Come All Ye Faithful,” sung by the congregation and accompanied by Chamber Strings and the Wind Ensemble, directed by Darrell Parrish, director of Jazz Ensemble.

Les Chanteuses, the female ninth and tenth grade choir, and Chorale, the mixed Upper School choir, followed with the song “Hallelujah” from Handel’s “Messiah.”

Faculty members as well as various alumni joined in singing.

“Hallelujah,” which was accompanied by Chamber Strings, is Patel’s favorite song to sing at Candlelight because she said she thought it was “so cool” that the congregation had to stand while it was being sung. “Hallelujah” is performed every year.

After a speech by Head Prefect Laura Franklin (’07) on the joy of giving, especially during the holiday season, Chamber Strings and Wind Ensemble accompanied the congregation in singing “Angels We Have Heard on High.” Following the hymn, St. John’s Singers, the Lower School boys and girls choir directed by Ms. Brill and lower school music teacher Audra Parrish, sang “O Come, All You Children.”

After the St. John’s Singers, Wind Ensemble and Chamber Strings played the music to “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” which was sung by the congregation. Then Cantatores, the middle school girls choir directed by middle school music teacher Stephen Bedford, sang “The Shepherd’s Pipe Carol” while Chamber Strings played the music.

JENNY LEWIS | The Review Lyndin Unger (‘10), Jenna Lindley (‘10), Sarah Burkett (‘10), Joan Scheirman (‘10) and Mary Ashleigh Boles (‘10), before the 2007 Candlelight service held in St. John the Divine chapel on Dec. 12.

The congregation then joined their voices together for the singing of “The First Noel” hymnal. Afterwards, Boy Choir, directed by Scott Bonasso, took the stage and sang “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” and Penny Meitz, director of Chamber Strings, accompanied the song on the viola. “Silent Night” was sung after boy choir performed, which was fol-

“It was beautiful. The choirs sounded amazing.”

- Candlelight audience member

lowed by a Christmas greeting from Headmaster John Allman.

Mr. Allman’s speech was about his childhood Christmases when he would look through catalogues at the toys and dream of the Christmas gifts he would receive. In addition to toys, Mr. Allman would receive boxers on Christmas morning. Patel said she thought that there were parts of Mr. Allman’s speech when “too much information was given, but it was comical”.

The highlight of the evening was Robert Young’s “He Comes at Christmastide,” a cantata consisting of six Christmas anthems. ‘“He Comes at Christmastide” is a wonderful piece of music that effectively expresses the profound beauty of the true meaning of Christmas while also capturing the sentimentality of the holiday season,” said Scott Bonasso, director of Chorale and Kantorei.

Kantorei sang “He Comes at Christmastide” in full, with additional singing done

by Chorale members and Les Chanteuses. Upper School’s Chamber Strings as well as some middle school strings players accompanied parts of the cantata. “Christmas-

tide,” the most difficult piece sung at Candlelight this year, is thirty-two pages long and contains some verses in Latin.

Following the nearly half an hour-long cantata, chamber strings, wind ensemble, and the congregation joined together for the last time to sing “Joy to the World.” The final song and choral benediction was Gustaf Nordquist’s “Wonderful Peace,” which is sung every year at the Candlelight service.

“Wonderful Peace,” performed

by Les Chanteuses and Chorale, was sung in the end aisles of the pews, resulting in one choir member singing directly to the audience members seated in the row in front of them.

This positioning caused some anxiety for some voice-conscious, new choir members, but a lot of the veteran singers were comfortable singing solely to the people in one row. Jasmine Larry (’10) of Les Chanteuses said she likes singing close to her audience “if I know the words well.” Larry said she thinks her performance was

“kind [of] choppy…but at least it was dark so nobody could tell who I was.” “Wonderful Peace” was the only song performed with dimmed lights, which created a “haunting” feeling, as one audience member recalled.

Mr. Bonasso said that he expected the audience to be moved by “He Comes at Christmastide” and the entire concert. By the

“All of the participating choirs and instrumentalists gave beautiful performances and the logistics of the service ran smoothly.”

- Choir Director Scott Bonasso

comments on the performance, it seems as if his expectations were met. One audience member exclaimed, “It was beautiful.

[The choirs] sounded amazing.”

Additional comments have continued to pour in. Observ-

ers praised the choirs for their hard work in putting together the show and for how well the songs were performed.

Mr. Bedford, director of Les Chanteuses, said the show was “beautifully performed.”

Mr. Bonasso said, “Candlelight went very well. All of the participating choirs and instrumentalists gave beautiful performances and the logistics of the service ran smoothly.”

The traditional Wassail party in the Upper School Cafeteria followed the concert during which Kantorei sang Christmas carols sung such as “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.” The Jazz Ensemble also performed holiday music at the party.

Reflecting on the evening, Kantorei member Anjali Patel (‘07) said, “This year’s Candlelight was one of the best I’ve attended and certainly was the perfect cap to my senior year.

The music we made was phenomenal, and the feel of the entire evening was magical.

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a&e The Review

January 2007

Courtesy of Geraldina Wise

Back row: Ally Mintz, Gabriella Wise, Elizabeth Blanton, Hannah Jeffers, Morgan Childs, Matthew Ziemnicki, Ryan Jewett, Tyler Gibson, Crystal Law, Harriet Reynolds, Jennifer Denfield. Front row: Cat Cain, Zara Charania, Nora Niebruegge, Alison Bloch, Kirsten Scott and Maggie McDaniel. (All class of ‘07.)

Modern Drama students perform semester project

By BRET VOLLMER Harriet Reynolds’ senior English class drama, “Play

By Play,” consisted of three separate but thematically related dramatic performances written by both student and professional writers, punctuated by “backstage” sequences.

“It was the synthesis of so many people’s ideas, and you could sit in the audience and hate one piece but get a real kick out of another,” said Morgan Childs

(’07), “and I think that’s exactly what we were going for.”

Childs played the French narrator Jean Michelle in the recent production of “Play By Play,” a unique theatrical performance not only because it was actually three plays in one, but because it was largely written by students.

The first piece, “English Made Simple,” was a satirical look at relationships ranging from the mundane to the life-changing.

Written by playwright David Ives, “English Made Simple”

portrayed three separate but divergent conversations, while the disembodied voice of the narrator comments on the conversations and human interaction itself. Ms. Reynolds’ class selected this piece specifically for its clever wit and many laughs.

Maintaining a theme of human relationships, “Here’s Looking at You” by Childs was a meaningful but often times humorous conversation between two close friends played by Tyler Gibson (’07)

Photo Courtesy of Geraldina Wise

Ryan Jewett (‘07), Nora Niebruegge (‘07)and Elizabeth Blanton (‘07, standing) and Morgan Childs (sitting, ‘07) in rehearsal for “Play by Play.”

and Kirsten Scott (’07). “It’s an absurd little play,” said Childs, “and my hope is that as absurd as it is…it carries real weight; if not with the audience, then at least with the actors.”

Concluding the look at human relations, the final performance, “The Evolution of Interaction” by Hannah Jeffers (’07) and Jennifer Denfield (’07), was a brief look at human history from cavemen to ‘The Real World.’ In an almost documentary style, two hosts played by Childs and Denfield recounted wars, revolutions and discoveries acted out by the rest of the class. In just a few minutes “The Evolution of Interaction” superbly portrayed human history, complete with constant crusades and dance numbers.

Between each of these plays were “backstage” sequences.

These short scenes were of actors pretending to prepare for the following scene and tied the three main pieces together.

Jeffers explained that the backstage sequences began as “auditions based on ‘America Idol,’ which… basically evolved into backstage and getting ready. It was supposed to be that as the other plays were being performed, actors were backstage freaking out.”

Ms. Reynolds and the class decided to perform three small sequences instead of a full-length play due to practical issues.

“It’s hard to find a play with 18 major roles,” said Ms. Reynolds, “and we’ve usually kept to really snappy contemporary drama because it’s a little bit easier to pull off funnier pieces than to pull off serious pieces.”

“I’ve always looked at this course as a chance to not only look at more plays and to look at drama historically,” said Ms. Reynolds, “but to look at what it really means to take something from a piece of paper and make it come alive on the stage.”

“The students are always given an option every year of what they would like to do for their

project,” said Ms. Reynolds. “In the past they had written scenes and performed them for each other or they have had the option to interview playwrights, actors and directors and present that as a project, but about four or five years ago, the kids started saying they would like to take it to the next level.”

According to Reynolds, students began to perform theatrical productions and also write an accompanying essay for their mid-year exam. This year, however, was unique due to the high level of student creative input in the overall production.

“They’ve always chosen their material and I’ve always given the students the option to write some of the segments or all of it, but this was the first year that a number of students came in and said they wanted to do mostly their own written stuff, and I thought that was great.”

Much of the performance was written by Childs, Denfield, and Jeffers, however, much of the humor found in the plays were the product of all the students’ input.

“It really was the product of fifteen students,” Ms. Reynolds said. “Everyone would read through it and everyone would make suggestions, and it really began to coalesce as one voice, which is very hard to do.”

After weeks of work, the senior drama students pleased with the performance. “It was kind of miraculous,” said Jeffers. “The final run was the best run we ever had; no one flubbed a line.”

When asked producing and performing a play instead of writing a synthesis paper, Jeffers saw it as a positive change. “It was definitely a lot of work, but it was much more fun than a synthesis paper. It was so rewarding. Seeing the final thing was such a great experience,” says Jeffers.

“I hope they do it next year.”

17

sports The Review

January 2007

Varsity swimming team propelling themselves into SPC contention

By LEEOR MUSHIN In the midst of one of the most grueling months any SJS athlete can undertake during his or her career, the swim team is looking forward to the Southwest Prepatory Conference competition Feb. 10 at the University of Houston.

“Right now we’re in hell month where we swim a lot of yards,” Head Coach Martha Carpenter said. “Then we’ll swim higher intensity but fewer yards. The kids all get really tired, and it’s hard for them to make SPC when they are tired, but this is all for repetition and muscle memory.”

An interesting aspect of Coach Carpenter’s job description is that she coaches both the girls and the boys at the same time.

“It’s a lot of people,” Coach Carpenter said. “It’s actually like coaching four teams because I spend time with the JV boys and girls and varsity boys and girls. I would say I spend most of the time with the varsity, but I do wander both sides.”

In a face-paced sport like swimming some might think it would be hard to tell the swimmers to make adjustments.

“Usually I’ll notice one little thing while they are swimming,” Coach Carpenter said.

Gordon Carver (‘08) swims the breaststroke.

“Little tweaking is what I do most of the time in practice, but the coaches end up repeating the same things until the swimmers get it into their heads.

Meets are where the individual

attention is given because I’m focusing on only a couple of people at one time.”

The captains, Crystal Law (’07) for the girls and Tyler Gibson (’07) and Jack Mauel

KATHERINE KELLEY | The Review

(’08) for the boys, realize that leadership is important as the season closes.

“A captain has to be a moral leader and a model of hard work,” Gibson said. “We don’t

have push the players to work together in a team sense because, for the most part, they are not swimming together but individually—we try to help

see SWIM p. 19

Young girls basketball team busy exceeding expectations

By HUDSON DUNCAN

The unanimous decision for the key to the girls varsity basketball team’s 2006-2007 season?

Playing as a team.

So far, Captain Allison Bland (’07) thinks the team has done just that.

“We are playing as a team,

Candace Bailey (‘08) goes up for a shot during practice.

DAN PERENYI | The Review

which is really important, especially because we have a young team,” she said.

The team has four underclassmen—three sophomores and one freshman—making the team young for varsity.

That important key to success, playing as a team, has resulted in a successful season.

“It was actually surprising how much teamwork we have, even though half of our team has never played with each other before,” Captain Blair Bashen (’07) said.

Head Coach Pat Krieger also thinks the team has done well up to this point. “[The] record is a surprise.

We are improving, but have work yet to do,” she said.

“I think we’re pretty confident in how well we’re doing this season,” Bland said.

The team’s first loss came early in the season at the John Cooper Tournament to a strong St. Pius team that ended up winning the tournament.

“We weren’t too upset about that especially because we started playing a lot better after that game. Because we just kept getting better and better, that tournament showed that with hard work and practice, our team can excel so much more,” Bland said.

After five straight wins, the team’s next loss came at the hands of rival Kinkaid, 43-30.

When asked about other goals the team had besides playing as

a team, Bland mentioned their ambition of making Division I in the Southwest Preparatory Conference.

Bashen discussed her goals as well. “Our goals for this season are to grow together as a team, work hard, give 110%, win conference games and later do well at SPC. These are big goals that will only be achieved one step at a time,” she said.

The team also wants to “play good defense, try to push tempo, box out [and] take away opponents’ strengths,” Coach Krieger said.

Charlotte Iupe (’10) represents the sole member of the freshman class on the varsity team.

“I’m pretty excited about it. I think it’s really cool that I can play on the varsity team. It’s pretty fun, too,” Iupe said.

She added that the older girls have all been very nice to her.

“It makes the experience that much better,” she said.

However, Iupe recently went down with a broken foot and will miss time.

The varsity players believe that their future looks bright.

They agree that they are playing as a team and playing well.

“The rest of the year should turn out to be filled with improvement by gaining confidence from winning games, [plus] learning and fixing our weaknesses from losing games,” Bashen said.

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sports The Review

January 2007

Surprise, surprise: Upsets and blowouts rule the 2007 BCS games By JEREMY SLAWIN Staff Writer

Boise State Broncos vs.

Oklahoma Sooners Everyone was wondering if a team like Boise State could compete with a national powerhouse from a major conference. They had played a few quality teams during the season but none of the Sooners’ caliber.

However, the Broncos cruised to an undefeated season earning a BCS bowl berth against unlikely Big 12 champion Oklahoma, who played a good part of their season without star running back Adrian Peterson.

Boise State surprisingly got out to an early lead, forcing the Sooners into several turnovers and hitting tons of big plays on offense. They were doing what nobody expected, going up by 11 at halftime and 18 after adding another score midway through the third quarter.

Oklahoma quarterback Paul Thompson and his offense suddenly became rejuvenated at this point and got down to business. They rallied to put up 18 unanswered points of their own, tying the game with under a minute and a half left to play.

So Jared Zabransky and his Bronco offense stepped onto the field in hopes of a gamewinning drive that would complete their undefeated

season. Zabransky’s very first throw was intercepted by OU cornerback Marcus Walker and returned all the way for a touchdown, seemingly putting the Sooners ahead for good.

But Boise State never showed any quit, quickly marching back down the field, this time in hopes of tying the game.

The drive was capped by one of the most exciting plays in recent memory, a 50 yard hookand-ladder play that resulted in the tying score with only seven seconds remaining on the clock.

And the excitement didn’t stop there. Boise State ran a wide receiver pass to score the equalizing touchdown in overtime and then the Statue of Liberty play on the subsequent two-point conversion. After a fake throw

by Zebransky, running back Ian Johnson ran into the end zone after a handoff untouched, threw the ball into the stands, and jumped for joy as his teammates joined him in celebration.

But on a night like this that wasn’t exciting enough. Johnson then went over and proposed to his girlfriend, the head cheerleader for Boise State.

Unfortunately, this game did come to an end after this wild array of excitement, but it will certainly be remembered as one of the most exciting college football games in recent memory.

on the line. Michigan had a lot to prove after basically being voted out of the national championship game in favor of the Florida Gators. USC, on the other hand, seemed destined to earn a berth in the national championship game before losing their final game against rival UCLA. Both teams were so close to making it to that championship game, and all signs pointed to a hard-fought battle of a game at the Rose Bowl.

But the result could not have been any farther from this.

John David Booty carved up the Wolverine secondary like they were a turkey on Thanksgiving Day. Booty threw for 391 yards and four touchdowns, hitting star wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett for 205 yards on 11 catches. Jarrett simply dominated anyone who attempted to cover him, as he made play after play, even showboating on one of his two trips to the end zone.

The Trojan defense, too, proved to be too much for Michigan. Their speed stifled the efforts of the Wolverine offense, keeping them out of the end zone until the fourth quarter, after the game had already been put away. This was a great performance by USC, as they proved themselves to be the class of the Pacific 10 Conference and a popular pick for next season’s number one ranking.

Florida quarterback Chris Leak celebrates the Gators’ 41-14 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes in the BCS Championship.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish vs. LSU Tigers

USC Trojans vs.

Michigan Wolverines These two storied programs faced off yet again with much

Boise State quarterback Jared Zebransky throws in the Fiesta Bowl. The Broncos beat the Oklahoma Sooners 43-42 in OT.

Louisville Cardinals vs.

Wake Forest Demon Deacons At the beginning of the season, the Louisville Cardinals envisioned themselves playing for a national championship in January. Playing Wake Forest was not exactly what they had in mind.

The Demon Deacons managed to stay atop the weak Atlantic Coast Conference on the strength of a good defense and earn a BCS bowl bid, although many do not consider the team national powerhouse.

They found themselves matched up with offensivelyminded Louisville, a team that put up an average of 39 points per game and ranked second in the nation in total offense.

Going into the game, Louisville was heavily favored, but Wake Forest hung with the Cardinals the entire game.

However, a series of unfortunate plays for Louisville—a missed field goal, a dropped touchdown pass, two fumbles— kept the game close going into the fourth quarter.

At that point though, junior quarterback Brian Brohm and his offense turned things up a notch and rallied for 14 unanswered points, resulting in a 24-13 Cardinal win.

Top NFL quarterback prospects JaMarcus Russell and Brady Quinn faced off in what figured to be a shootout between two of the nation’s top gunslingers.

Quinn and the Fighting Irish found themselves in a BCS game despite two blowout losses during the regular season, and they faced Russell and the Tigers who also lost two games—albeit much closer ones—in the rough Southeastern Conference.

To be honest, this game was not even that entertaining when LSU began to run away with game by the second quarter. LSU was always in control as they accumulated a stunning 577 yards of total offense against a Notre Dame defense that struggled all year long.

In doing so, Russell may have stolen Quinn’s status as the top prospect heading into the NFL draft this April. So while the game was not exactly “one for the ages,” it still should have some impact in the world of football.

Florida Gators vs. Ohio State Buckeyes Everyone was wondering how

the Ohio State Buckeyes would fair against their opponents, the Florida Gators, after not having played a football game in 51 days.

The Buckeyes were led by myriad stars on both sides of the ball and were considered heavy favorites to win their second national title of the decade.

However, the Gators battled all year through a tough Southeastern Conference en route to a 12-1 regular season record and remained confident that they would be bringing home a national championship to Gainesville.

Wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. seemingly disproved the doubters who felt Ohio State would begin the game flat after such a long layoff from live football action. The speedy junior returned the game’s opening kickoff for a touchdown, providing what many believed would be a precursor to the Buckeye’s continued dominance throughout the game.

But on Fforida’s opening drive, senior quarterback Chris Leak marched his Gators right back down the field to tie the game. Instead, it was this latter event that proved to be a precursor for the rest of the game: Florida quickly ran away with the game, eventually winning by a 27-point margin.

The Gators held the explosive Buckeye offense, arguably the best in the country, to a miniscule 82 yards of total offense with dominating play from their defensive line and solid coverage in the secondary.

The Gator offense made the stingy Buckeye defense look slow and porous as they piled up 41 points and 370 total yards. There was no doubt by the end of the night that the Florida Gators were the better team, well deserving of a national championship.

All logos courtesy of bcsfootball.org, photos courtesy of SI

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19

The Review

January 2007

Wrestlers building strong base of underclassmen for seasons to come WRESTLE cont. from p. 1 said. “We’re lengthening practices to get our younger guys in shape.”

“This year one of our biggest challenges is to keep our guys from getting discouraged,” Coach Paul said. “We’re trying to keep up a ‘no-quit’ attitude this year.”

One of the younger wrestlers is freshman Krishnan Rajagopalan (’10). Although there are not many juniors and seniors to help the team out at matches, he enjoys wrestling against the older kids. “It’s really fun and exciting,” he said. “I really like it a lot.”

“Practice is extremely intense,” Coach Paul said. “Everyday the kids leave exhausted. We also have voluntary practices Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.”

At the start of practice, with heavy metal music playing in the background, the players jog around the mats to begin warming up. Next, they form a circle around the main ring and begin to stretch. Their intimidating “M-A-V-E-R-I-C-K-S Mavericks!” chant is as soft as a whisper, creating an intimidating aura that radiates from Elkins, the center of the circle.

Soon afterward, they form a ring around two wrestlers in the middle of the mat. Paired with partners, they begin to run drills on each other while the two wrestlers in the middle

wrestle to be the king of the mat. When one wins, two new wrestlers go in, and the workout continues.

Edward Williams (’09) gave a simple breakdown of wrestling.

He briefly summed the whole strategy up into six user-friendly steps.

The first step is to stay low.

The lower your center of gravity is, the more stable you are.

The second step is to keep moving at all times. “The first person to stop moving is the first person to get taken down,” Williams said.

Step three: Always stay on your toes. “If you’re on top, being on your toes puts all your weight on the person beneath you,” Williams said.

Step four: Apply hip pressure.

“If you keep your hips pressed on your opponent, it applies more pressure, keeping them on the ground,” he said.

Step five: Keep your head up.

Wherever your head goes, your body follows. And finally, step six: Get mad.

“Wrestling is all about your mentality,” Williams said. “The person with the most anger or rage usually wins.” “[Wrestling] is the biggest adrenaline rush I’ve ever had,” Hollingsworth said.

Jeff Coburn (’09) has his own strategy for wrestling. “When I wrestle, I try and make the other person feel so bad that it makes me feel good. For example, if you got a bad test

KATHERINE KELLEY | The Review

Captain Patrick Unger (‘07) pins an opponent during a meet.

KATHERINE CARMICHAEL | The Review

grade, you make them feel so bad [that] it makes you feel great, even though you got a bad grade.”

However, as fun of a sport wrestling may be, it is not the most popular at SJS. The fan turnout at their meets is low.

“The only time we really have fans is during SPC,” Unger said.

“And that’s only in between

basketball games.”

“We’d like more fans to come support us at our matches,” Elkins said.

The wrestling team’s main goals are to make it to SPC this year and to train for the seasons to come. “We will be competing for an SPC championship in two years. By 2008, we will be a force to reckon with” Coach

Paul said. In 2008, the wrestling team will have a strong junior class and nine seasoned seniors.

Another one of the team’s goals is to display the SJS image and attitude at its maximum potential. “We hope to mirror the academic image of SJS with a championship wrestling team,” Coach Paul said.

SWIM cont. from p. 17

tion, but that has not stopped them from also having a successful year.

“Every one has done really well this year. We expected a lot, and almost all the girls came back,” Law said. “One thing that really helps us is that everyone is fun to be around, and everybody is loud and rowdy. As for our competition, Greenhill and Hockaday are really good this year. We swam Episcopal close and that one could go either way, and we beat Kinkaid.”

One of the most important parts of swimming is the relays, which involve four swimmers working together.

“There are two different types of relays, medley relay and freestyle, and relays are double points,” Coach Carpenter said. “The medley relay is four different events while the

freestyle is just the four fastest freestyle swimmers in an order of your second fastest swimmer followed by the slowest, third and fastest of the four. Sometimes you might have a swimmer that is a greater starter, so you might put them there.”

Despite being in the midst of hell month, January until SPC is one of the busiest times of the year for swimmers in terms of meets.

“There’s nothing like playing in a game that actually matters, and I see that almost always the times are faster at meets,” Coach Carpenter said. “Even if the times aren’t great because of the exhaustion, you still want to race. Also it’s definitely a moral booster after you see your times go down to see them get right back to where they and higher and then higher.”

them focus on working hard.”

The boys’ team is experiencing one of its best years in recent memory due to key additions and sheer numbers.

“I think this is the biggest boys team we’ve ever had,” Gibson said. “What that brings is a competition within the team that pushes everybody to de well. We think we can be in the top three at SPC because we have swimmers like Ray Schroer (’07), our top freestyle swimmer; Jack, who is two-year running MVP; and Kyle Sparks (’09), who is leading the team in backstroke. Everyone is pretty good and [because of that] we stomped on Episcopal.”

The girls swimming team came into the season knowing they would face stiff competi-

Freshman Lucy Gao (‘10) swims the freestyle during a meet.

SJS varsity soccer player selected to be part of Dynamo’s new youth program

In Dec. 2006, the Houston Dynamo launched their Dynamo Player Development System, signing Walberto Perez of Cy Falls High School and Mario Perez of Porter High School soon after the programs inception.

The Dynamo signed two more players Jan. 11, Patrick Wall from Strake Jesuit and Clayton Holz (’08) from SJS. The program plans to develop

their players with the goal of making the Dynamo team in mind.

“It feels great to be part of a great organization like the Dynamo,” Holz said. “I look forward to giving my best every day, as I focus my efforts on the ultimate goal, which is making the Dynamo first team.”

- Meghan Hall

Logo courtesy of cityofhouston.gov

20

opinions The Review

January 2007

Editorials Seniors seminars successful

T

ime after time, the Editorial Board of The Review – the majority of whose members change each year – has petitioned the school to grant its right-brained students a little bit of room to breathe. There are those few students who, presented the opportunity to engage in a semester of independent DNA research or to prepare themselves for a pre-med undergraduate career, may decline the offer in favor of the humanities.

And while the persuasion of the Editorial Board remains the same – we will continue to promote the notion that underclassmen deserve the option to take individualized English courses – thanks are due to the school for allowing teachers to create and students to choose from a unique set of second-semester seminars. English IV students chose from six different seminar options, including English teacher Ruth Bellows’ “Detective Fiction” course, Harriet Reynolds’ “Writing Documentary Films,” and Dr. Bart Thornton’s “Springtime in Siberia” Russian literature seminar.

The English Department’s flexibility in coordinating Senior seminar options resides in the fact that every English IV course is taught during the fourth period of the school day. Unfortunately, scheduling has prevented the junior class from enjoying the same

sort of flexibility in course selection; although Eleventh Class students take courses that vary depending on their instructors, the department could not provide students with the option to choose their second-semester focus.

The Review recognizes the challenges posed by the complicated scheduling process and certainly commends the school in its efforts to expand English curriculum options.

However, it also seems as though SJS students, enrolled in a school which aims to develop the “whole person,” should have the ability to select English elective courses with the same ease of selecting a history or science course.

Seniors with newfound free periods may enjoy the option of adding a light-natured course alongside their Russian literature readings; freshmen, on the other hand, may enjoy taking a creative writing course – without having to wait another three years.

Senior history students have raved over this year’s seminar options, nearly all of which have been within easy access to those who showed an interest. A school with the mission to round out its students’ educations should mirror the flexibility of the science- and, now, history-department offerings to develop what shows great potential to become an exemplary English department.

Advisory unnecessary for seniors

A

s the spring semester arrives, the Class of 2007 is no doubt looking forward to their sign out privileges—the ability to be off campus during lunch and any time during the day when they are not scheduled for a class.

Seniors, however, cannot look forward to coming to school late any time in the near future because of the rule that says they must report to advisory at 7:45 each morning. Although, starting in late April, Seniors will be exempt from this seven-minute period, until then, alarm clocks will be going off early in the morning five days a week.

It is the opinion of the Editorial Board of The Review that Seniors should not have to attend advisory once the spring semester begins. Two of the main purposes of advisory, taking attendance and reading announcements, can be fulfilled when seniors sign in each morning. Seniors have to sign out and in when they leave and return to campus during the day, so it would be feasible for Seniors to simply sign in when they arrive at school each morning. Fur-

thermore, Seniors could be required to read the appropriate announcements each morning when they sign in.

Perhaps attending advisory makes the least sense for the Seniors who have first period, and in some cases, second period, free. Students have to be at school from 7:45 to 7:52, but could then potentially be off-campus from 7:53 to 8:45 or even 9:35 in the morning.

Conversely, without having to be present in advisory, seniors would have uninterrupted time in their morning to do homework, read, or catch up on sleep.

With continued sports practices and games as well as extracurricular and cocurricular commitments, Seniors’ afternoons and evenings continue to be busy times throughout this semester; their mornings are useful times. Seniors who have to be at school anyway for first period classes would not have to worry about rushing around campus from 7:40 to 7:55, and seniors who have early-morning free periods could reap the benefits of not having to be at school for only seven minutes before being free to leave campus.

I

n my nearly seven years at SJS, I’ve heard a lot of chapel speeches. Mr. Wilson’s last week, however, was certainly one of the most relevant. Delivering something of a “State of the School” address, Mr. Wilson chose to stray from a talk about the uniform or the Honor Code, and instead focused on something much more relevant—at least in my mind—that morning.

As you all will remember, Mr. Wilson spoke about his experience as a Varsity soccer player at Strake Jesuit years ago, reflecting on how his not being recognized at the end of the season soured the whole experience for him.

Such emotions are certainly not rare at a competitive school like ours, and I was thrilled that Mr. Wilson urged us all to remember that there is always going to be that person who makes more money, gets into a better college, or makes a higher grade.

But, he said, you cannot live your life measuring yourself against others; oppositely, you just have to give everything you do your best effort. You should be satisfied with yourself if you know that you have

done your best, not when you have done better than every single person in your class, grade, or school.

The Head of the Upper School went on to discuss how rewarding it was for him to put his heart into something like the soccer team and the reward he got from his investment. He urged the student body—and I echo him today—to find something they are passionate about this semester, and really put their whole self into it.

As we’ve launched into a new year and a new semester, there’s a lot going on at SJS that highlights all that we as a student body do and that will give many of you the opportunities you are looking for to put yourself into something meaningful.

In News, you can read all about a dedicated group of students who have made it their job to bring recycling back to the Upper School and in Sports, check out what winter sport athletes have been up to. In Features, take a look at our “Year in Review” spread that showcases some of the events that made 2006 memorable.

Perhaps A&E best describes the effort so many students put into fine arts each year.

Don’t miss the latest on the upcoming production of “The Triangle Factory Fire Project.”

Also, read about two highlights of last month, the annual Candlelight service and the outstanding (if I do say so myself) production put on

by Harriet Reynolds’ senior Modern Drama seminar.

The US community was funny this month, as evidenced by the return of quotes to Odds&Ends. Finally, check out all that our Opinions and beyondSJS staffs are reporting on this month.

Well, there’s a lot in this issue, and also a lot coming up both at SJS and here at The Review. We have an exciting semester to look forward to that will only supplement all that is going to happen on campus from now until May. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any comments, suggestions, or concerns. But for now, enjoy the paper, and as always, thanks for reading.

Sincerely,

Justin Stein Editor-in-Chief,

The Review

review@sjs.org Correction In the December 2006 edition of The Review, the Editorial Board failed to acknowledge Danielle Pike, Maddie McDowell, and Rebecca Welbourn. These three staff members were extremely helpful in collecting student reactions to the administration’s attempt to give seniors their sign out privileges early in exchange for not wrapping the quad. The Board appreciates their effort and regrets the error.

opinions

The Review

January 2007

Point/Counterpoint

21

Should English always be our last exam?

Yes, it conveniences upperclassmen

By ASHLEY TAM Staff Writer

A

t the end of every semester, there is an inevitable moment in which an SJS student realizes with a terrifying jolt that the approaching freedom, be it the winter respite or blessed summer break, is deterred by pure evil: exams. Cumulative or not, we spend hours upon hours flipping through worn notes, scribbling flash cards, and

The underclassmen’s English exams usually consist of mostly essays: this requires that they have but a set time (three hours) to write their essays.

Students cannot read their teachers’ minds, and unless told, do not know what the essay prompts are.

As to which day one would like the least stress, it makes sense for the English exam to be last on the roster—who wants to suffer through a ridiculously difficult and long exam heavy on memorization after a sleepless night tossing and turning through visions of cations and anions? Of course one would want to get the difficult exams over and done with, leav-

Cumulative or not, we spend hours upon hours flipping through worn notes, scribbling flash cards, and praying to the gods of test-taking

praying to the gods of test-taking.

In order to lessen the brutal stress indubitably caused by the semester exams, the SJS English department assigns a synthesis paper to upperclassmen to be turned in in lieu of an English exam.

A thematic analysis of literary pieces read throughout the year, the synthesis of the fall 2006 semester was due on the 11th of December, several days before Reading Day and subsequent exams.

The assigned exam date for English, however, was the first exam on the calendar: December 14. This meant that although juniors (like myself) and seniors had nothing to do but sleep in the morning of the English exam, they still had to contend with other exams.

How can one sleep in, knowing that a slew of exams is about to smash them in the face? No, the one extra day that every upperclassman receives off (not for free, mind you—a synthesis is never an easy charge) is marred by dread and flustered panic.

On the other hand, however, had the exams been organized such that the English exam would be administered last before the break, upperclassmen would have been emancipated an entire day earlier.

At the risk of sounding like a supremist, I feel that the upperclassmen workload is considerably more chaotic toward the end of the semester as opposed to the underclassmen workload.

After all, upperclassmen have to organize their notes and thoughts for their syntheses, and then for their exams.

ing the most creative exam for last.

So, why not turn the dreaded synthesis into a blessing in many, many disguises and move the English exam date to the last day of exams? I mean, juniors and seniors have to turn in their papers a good two days before even Reading Day, so think of the poor, overworked, despondent upperclassmen, and let us off a day early!

KAT OSHMAN | The Review

No, it is inconsiderate for teachers

By TIFFANY SHYU Staff Writer

I

t is generally a good idea for the English exams to come first in the exam schedule because this schedule would actually benefit both the English teachers and their students.

Underclassmen should take their English exams first because even though English exams have the potential to be the longest, they require the least amount of studying. English exams are notorious for the substantial amount of writing involved. For sophomores especially, about eighty percent of an English exam is writing. Though students may complain about having sore hands after an English exam, having an exam consisting largely of essays actually has its benefits. Writing an essay requires more of a general understanding of a novel or another work, so an English exam would require less memorizing because knowing all the small details of a story is not necessary, unlike in some other subjects. For essays on an English exam, as long as a

student has read the book, taken good notes during class discussions and understands the general plotline and literary devices that go with it, he or she should already be more or less prepared to take the writing portion of the exam. This cuts down the study time required for an English exam and as a result, students would be able to devote more time to preparing early for other exams that require heavier studying.

However, the substantial amount of writing involved on an English exam also results in the English teachers having to take a much longer time than teachers of other subjects to grade the exams. Grading essays generally require a more than significant amount of time and patience – time to read the essay and time to analyze the quality of an essay. Therefore, having the English exam first will give the English teachers a more ample amount of time to complete their grading. If an English exam were towards the end of the exam-taking block, the deadline to turn in grades would be much closer the day the exam was taken and thus give the teachers less time to grade the exams. A short timeframe would be inconvenient and stressful for the teachers because they would be given such a short amount of time to grade so much writing. Also, by not being able to spend as much time as necessary to grade an exam, the grading of the exam could potentially become less attentive and accurate and may even result in sloppy grading.

This schedule also holds its benefits for the upperclassmen, who write synthesis papers in lieu of taking an exam.

Though having English come first in the exam schedule leaves them less time to complete the paper, if students start their papers early, then they should feel no stress in having to turn their papers in sooner. Though I believe that the upperclassmen would appreciate having the date of the English exam to be pushed to the last day of exams so that they can get out a day early, I still see an upside to having the English exam be the first in the list of exams because the sooner the paper is turned in, the sooner the upperclassmen can take it off their minds. Plus, having the English exam on the first day of exams will allow the upperclassmen a whole extra day to study for their other upcoming exams, and on a whole, they would not need to worry as much about their other exams and the sum of all their study time will decrease by a good number of hours.

Some of the procedures and rules of library are unfair

By DANIELLE PIKE Staff Writer

O

ver the past few years, the library has gone from a place to be quiet and study to more of a social gathering place. It used to be that libraries were areas where speaking above a whisper resulted in glares from the librarians. Now a library seems to be a place to catch up on the latest gossip while sipping on a freshly brewed latte. I recently read an article in the Boston Globe that many university libraries are changing their atmosphere.

Universities have put cafes in their libraries and lessened up on the rules on being quiet. So, students can say so long to the days of silent rooms and hello to the new era of libraries. However, it seems as if the Taub library at SJS is lacking behind the times.

The Taub library at SJS has many shelves

filled with interesting books, but I have not had the chance to explore most of them because I don’t need to. With the internet, all the information I need for a history or English paper can be found with the click of a button. I do not need to go to the library and look up a book in the card catalogue and then skim through the book to find the information I truly want. The internet does all that for me in a lot less time. I have only checked out books from the library twice

underclassmen have to keep their mouths shut in the main section of the library.

The other day, I was waiting outside room S-209 with some of my friends about two minutes before the bell. We were probably being a bit loud, but we were not in the library, so technically, we should have been allowed to talk in a conversational tone.

However, we were told to leave the library area because we were being too loud.

Not only that but the non-quiet section of the library is an iPod free area, which

...as long as you have your headphones in and no one else can hear your music playing, then who cares that you are jamming to Beyoncé while doing your math homework. and one of the times should not even count because it was the MLA Handbook.

It is not just the lending process of the library that bothers me, but also the rules. I believe that the library should be an area where people can carry on a casual conversation while doing their work. In the non-quiet section, upperclassmen can be fairly loud, but the poor

means that no one can listen to music while they work in the library. Now, I think that as long as you have your headphones in and no one else can hear your music playing, then who cares that you are jamming to Beyoncé while doing your math homework.

Just a few weeks ago, my friend was not allowed to check out a laptop from the library because they were being saved for

underclassmen. Of course, she could have just gone to the computer lab, but she wanted to sit in the comfortable chairs in the non-quiet section of the library while using the laptop. However, underclassmen got preference over her, and she is a junior. Now that is just wrong.

Additionally, the library does not offer free copies. I think that if we are allowed to print hundreds of documents from the computers and not get charged a dime, then we should be able to copy one, two, maybe three pieces of paper free of charge.

Sometimes I really need to copy something and do not have any change on me. I then have to start scouring for money until I find someone with some pocket change.

The library needs to become a place that is more conducive to students’ needs.

If possible, I think maybe a little coffee/ tea station and more comfortable chairs would make the library a little more inviting. Although a coffee shop in the library may sound like a high demand, it would bring students to the library since they are obviously not going there for books.

22 The Student Pulse The Review Online Poll

opinions The Review

January 2007

Sudoku

This month’s question

is...

Should English always be our last exam?

Go online to vote now! www.sjsreview.net Poll open: 1/15 to 2/15

Last month’s results...

Crossword answer Across 1. Decapitating machine GUILLOTINE 3. Author of Fantastic Mr. Fox DAHL 6. Moderately slow speed, to musicians ANDANTE 8. Director of Vertigo HITCHCOCK 10. Mythical women warriors AMAZONS 11. Greek god of love EROS 13. Paradise EDEN 14. Taj Mahal city AGRA 17. Founder of the Persian Empire CYRUS 19. Hero of the Iliad ACHILLES 20. “Is this the face that launched a thousand ships?”: subject HELEN 25. Sevigny or Dao CHLOE 26. Seeker of the philosopher’s stone ALCHEMIST 28. 1st woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize WHARTON 29. Fool’s gold PYRITE 30. Fight on horseback JOUST 33. Discoverer of Tutankhamun’s tomb CARTER 34. Storied CLOISTERS 35. Director of The Godfather COPPOLA

Across cont.

36. Verdi’s last opera FALSTAFF 22. “Veni, Vidi, VICI”: Julius Caesar 23. Epic monster GRENDEL 24. Main division of a play ACT 27. 24’s Sutherland KIEFER 31. Greek letter OMEGA 32. Spanish fleet ARMADA Down 2. Dalai LAMA 4. Daughter of Oedipus ANTIGONE 5. Lincoln’s assassin BOOTH 7. Anna Karenina author TOLSTOY 9. Aurora BOREALIS: northern lights 12. Little Miss SUNSHINE 13. Australian bird EMU 15. Believers in salvation by knowledge rather than mere faith GNOSTICS 16. Talking Heads’ David BYRNE 18. Director of Good Night, and Good Luck CLOONEY 19. Seabird that is the subject of many superstitions, esp. among sailors ALBATROSS 21. Jane Austen novel EMMA

odds&ends Thumbs Thumbs down up Long weekends Back to the daily grind English seminar options Waiting for the college response College applications winding down USAP heats up for juniors and seniors

Word for Word

Photo of the Issue

“I’m planning a simulated, imaginary helicopter crash drill next week.”

- English Department Head Dr. Bart Thornton “On a scale from one to caring, I don’t think she does.”

- Catie Reynolds (‘08) “As we would say in West Texas, you’re as worthless as teats on a boarhog.”

- History Teacher Gara Johnson-West “Although I don’t use Viagra, I certainly receive enough emails about it that I could find some should the need arise.”

- English teacher David Nathan “Or if it didn’t.”

- Patrick Hayes (‘07) “I’m gradually getting more friends.”

- Yijing Sun (‘07) about Facebook “My parents didn’t buy me Pokemon cards. I still hate them.”

- Bret Vollmer (‘09) sixty seconds with lucy kerr (‘09) by margaret greenberg name Lucy Kerr grade tenth music indie rock Starbucks Caramel Macchiato vegetable edamame radio station 106.9 the point dream vacation Greece Sue Mills clothing the bows drink Orangina hero Angelina Jolie when I grow up I want to be a dancer when I grow up I want to live in London kids’ names Chloe and Annabelle sing in the shower? who doesn’t? after-school activities dance, pilates and yoga what time do you wake up? too early what time do you go to bed? too late.

A glimpse of on-campus wildlife, captured on camera by Photo Editor Katherine Kelley (‘08).

Staffer of the Issue

Danielle Pike (‘08)

The Editorial Board of The Review is continually thankful for the hard work of staffer Danielle Pike. This is Danielle’s second year as a writer, and she has always been one of the Review’s most reliable and enthusiastic.

This issue, Danielle contributed an Opinions piece about the Upper School library, another example of the consistently-strong work she has produced for us over the past two years.