Gryphon Gazette 2011-12, Issue 5

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The Newspaper of St. George’s Independent School

The April 2012

Gryphon Gazette

Volume X, Issue V

The Secret Life of College Guidance Ashley Moody ’12 College Guidance. It is the office where students go to find their perfect college, talk about class schedules, and for many, seek life guidance. The counselors we all know and love, Mr. Timothy Gibson and Ms. Beverly Brooks, make up the infamous Team College Guidance, but what do they do when they are not listening to students’ everyday crises, or calling a college to sort out an issue? “I like to kick it old school,” says Mr. Gibson. They also like to involve themselves in “mayhem and foolishness,” states Ms. Brooks. On a more professional note, the team works hard to ensure each student is given an abundance of personal attention throughout the college search, as well as planning and executing many events. “March is a big month in college guidance,” says Mr. Gibson. Not only do they to multiple different colleges, but both Ms. Brooks and Mr. Gibson are leading the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) planning for this year. For the NACAC, they are making arrangements for 100 different colleges and universities to visit the mid-south. This will allow over 4,000 high school students from throughout the region to have the opportunity to learn about these colleges and explore different opportunities. Additionally, the team planned and executed College Guidance Week from March 19-23. During this week, the two spent their nights working with parents and students to prepare them for the challenges of the college application process. The week began with a case study on Tuesday, which allowed

College guidance counselors, Timothy Gibson and Beverly Brooks, discussing seniors’ college decisions.

students and parents to read mock applications and learn the basics of the admissions process. Not only was this available to St. George’s families, but also to those of Briarcrest, Lausanne, and Soulsville Charter School. Wednesday night, the pair had an evening of cookies, cupcakes, and conversation in order to touch base with families and go over special programs available for tenth and eleventh grade students. Thursday, Ms. Brooks and Mr. Gibson planned a college coffee after dark and finally ended the week in a senior celebration. In addition to planning after school meetings and working to plan giant conventions, the team meets with juniors to make their college lists and

For better or worse, race and gender play a role in college admissions

initiate the college process. Furthermore, they have met with fifty additional students to plan schedules this year. Mr. Gibson also serves as the advisor for the Upper School Student Senate and Ms. Brooks is the Latin Club advisor. Also, both go out of their ways to attend “underrepresented school sports events.” When asked about their free time, Ms. Brooks simply remarked, “We don’t have free time.” However, when there is time they plan exciting escapades. “I bought a chair with Mr. Gibson at Pier One, and then students came over and took my toilet paper,” said Ms. Brooks. After all, who doesn’t get excited about buying a new chair on a

race, ethnicity, native language, social class, geographical origin, parental attendance of the university in question, and/or gender can be taken into consideration when college admissions offices are considering who to grant scholarships for the following school year. This process has not gone uncriticized, however. In 2008 Abigail Fisher applied to UT Austin, and was rejected in part because she was not a minority. Hundreds of colleges use similar “preferences” in which admissions officers consider an applicant’s skin color and ethnicity above other factors. The Supreme Court sanctioned this arguably unjust practice in 2003 in the Grutter v. Bollinger case. This case presented the argument that the University of Michigan wanted to promote class diversity within their school in or- A young Zack Adcock prepares to dance the der to help “underrepresented minority night away at his high school prom.

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Saturday morning? Mr. Gibson added, “I like trashy, reality television.” Ms. Brooks shared, “I prefer a good BRAVO show. I actually pay more for my cable so I can have BRAVO.” So, if you ever need a good conversation about the ridiculousness of teen moms, Mr. Gibson is the man to see. Needless to say, this is a pretty spectacular team. With so many things on their plate, such as planning regional events, week-long learning sessions, attending sports events, supervising clubs, touring universities, providing emotional support for students, and watching trashy TV, it is clear that the team does much more for students and parents than many of us realize.

Tales of Proms Past

Virginia Whittsit ’14

As time progresses and racial diversity becomes more common in society, colleges across the nation have been taking extra precautions to ensure that their schools are diverse. As a part of the Affirmative Action movement, which refers to equal employment opportunities for all United States citizens, universities have taken steps to make certain that their schools remain diverse in race and gender, while also remaining fair to their applicants. In 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Regents v. Bakke that public universities could not set a forced quota, but could still consider race and gender in admissions decisions. Since then, colleges often have racial or gender preference admissions policies when considering who to admit into their school, and who to decline for the following year. Race and gender can also potentially affect awarded scholarships. For example,

Photo by: Melissa Grant

Zoe Leake ’14

Prom season is bittersweet for freshman English teacher Zack Adcock. During his senior year at Urbana High School in Urbana, Illinois, Mr. Adcock escorted an ex-girlfriend and close friend, Sandi, to his senior prom at the University of Illinois ballroom. Sandi was a year older and attended Ohio State University as a freshman. The pair had gone to two other proms together the year before, one at his school and the other at hers, and there was hope that they might rekindle their relationship that night. “The problem was that regardless of all the promise we showed as a couple, I was a horrible date for someone whose primary goal was to dance and have fun, because apparently, as an angsty high school Continued on pg. 7


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