“Broadway musical magic”: Theater Department Performs Outdoors
Page 5 Conestoga High School, Berwyn PA
Volume 71 No. 7
June 7, 2021
In favor of the four-block schedule
Strong team chemistry leads varisty tennis team to state semi-finals
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spoke.news
The State of Sex Education
An exploration of Pennsylvania’s legislation and T/E curriculum
Charity Xu/The SPOKE
By Devon Rocke, Ben Shapiro and Shreya Vaidhyanathan Co-Managing Editor, Co-Copy Editor and Co-Webmaster
In a 2017 report released by the CDC analyzing Pennsylvania State Health Education Laws, 11 out of every 30 high school students reported having been or currently being sexually active. Despite this, the state of Pennsylvania does Editor’s note: In our goal to include diverse perspectives not mandate the following on every topic, we reached topics to be taught in public out to nine students and four schools: sexual education, parents about why they op- contraceptive methods, pose the implementation of consent and sexual oriensex education in school. None of them agreed to speak with tation. The only requireus on the record. ments for public schools in Pennsylvania are to stress “High schoolers are hav- abstinence and to provide ing sex,” freshman Chloé instruction on HIV as statCabel said. “Denying it isn’t ed in the Public School Code of 1949. If schools doing anyone any good.”
decide to cover any of the aforementioned topics, there is no requirement for the curriculum to be medically accurate. In accordance with this legislation, Conestoga has not had a human sexuality (sex education) curriculum in place since 2009. The family life curriculum taught at both middle schools in the district includes a brief introduction to anatomy and reproduction, but is never followed up with comprehensive education relating to human sexuality at the high school level. This curriculum is optional, as the current
laws mandate that parents and guardians are given the option to opt their child out of the unit. “As a district, our responsibility is to teach the state standards,” said Conestoga health and physical education teacher Marcia Mariani, “and so, if the teachers are able to get the state standards taught — whatever those are — then I think that we’re doing our job.” Pennsylvania Reps. Brian Sims and Jessica Benham are in the process of amending the Public School Code of 1949 to include age-appropriate,
medically-accurate, comprehensive sex education to all grade levels. Introduced to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on May 5, 2021, Sims and Benham’s House Bill 1335 hopes to shift the requirements for health and sexuality education to be more inclusive and accessible. Benham advocates for state-mandated sex education, believing it to be vital for the health and safety of young people. “Sex education is incredibly important for a number of reasons: it’s important for (young people) to have all of the accurate scientific information
about their own health in order to make the best decisions that they can for themselves,” Benham said. “I think it’s important for people to understand how their bodies work and how other people’s bodies work; that’s integral to our health and well-being as humans. It’s critical that we teach concepts like consent, because we want to make sure that people understand how to treat other people with respect and that applies in contexts beyond sex education.” Sophomore Hannah Hoffman shares Benham’s concerns about the lack
of sex education taught to students. She knows from personal experience that without proper education, students are left uninformed. “I think an issue with not being taught sex ed is ignorance (about sex). Instead of learning about it, (teens will) probably just go into (sex) without knowing any prior information which would be harmful from a safety standpoint,” Hoffman said. “A lot of the guys I talk to don’t even understand how the menstrual cycle works.” Continued on page 3.
Back on track: ’Stoga proceeds with in-person graduation Nishka Avunoori Co-Webmaster
As the hybrid school year comes to an end, the preparations for an almost normal graduation ceremony are underway. At an in-person event at Teamer Field on June 8, seniors will have the opportunity to bid adieu to their high school days. The Class of 2021 will commemorate their graduation with a traditional ceremony and unlimited guests, with over 550 graduates and 4,000 spectators expected to attend. Masks are required for all unvaccinated individuals, but due to the sheer volume of guests, it will be challenging to verify personal vaccination statuses. Moreover, social distancing guidelines have been lifted for the event. With so many changes to the safety protocols, the spread of COVID-19 is a concern. Still,
Dr. Amy Meisinger, principal of Conestoga High School, believes guests will stay safe. “I think we’re all adjusting to the new safety protocols. With the June 1 changes that allow for outdoor events, I feel confident that people will adhere to wearing a mask if they’re not vaccinated. We are in compliance with what we should be doing and it’ll be a great night,” Meisinger said. Annual graduation traditions, including commencement speeches, will be conducted as usual. Following an audition process, seniors Andrew Kim and Gabrielle Valencia were selected as commencement speakers by the graduation committee. When Kim learned of his selection by the committee, he felt surprised and excited. “I would never have thought I would have received this opportunity. I auditioned to get out this message about pursuing the
Nishka Avunoori/The SPOKE
Cap it off: The Class of 2021 will have an in-person graduation ceremony on June 8 at Teamer Field. More than 550 seniors and 4,000 spectators are expected to be in attendance at the event, which will include commencement speeches by seniors Andrew Kim and Gabrielle Valencia.
unknown and making the most of all the opportunities you’re provided with, which has guided me for the past 13 years while I’ve been in the district,” Kim said. “It makes me really happy that I have this opportunity to share it with the rest of my class as they move on to college or join the workforce.” Valencia’s speech, titled “The Beauty of Becoming”, similarly draws inspiration from her own experiences. She’s grateful that her friends encouraged her to pursue giving a commencement address, a lifelong dream of hers. “I’m the type of person who has a 30-year plan. One day I was looking at it, and I just laughed at myself because that’s not how you should live life. If you put yourself in a box, know exactly what you want to do and worry about the future, you’re never ever going to figure out where you’re ac-
tually supposed to go,” Valencia said. “When you enjoy the process of becoming who you’re supposed to be, you’ll figure out where you’re supposed to go. It’s not something that you should know at 18.” As the day of graduation draws near, it carries mixed feelings for some seniors. While graduation symbolizes the end of a significant chapter of their lives, Kim and Valencia are thrilled for a final, in-person chance to cap off their time at ‘Stoga after spending senior year in a hybrid school model. “I wasn’t all too excited about getting pictures on the podium by myself and being on my way because that’s anticlimactic,” Kim said. “But it’s exciting that there’s going to be that atmosphere. If I’ve missed anything about the world pre-COVID, it’s that when there are a lot of people present somewhere, there’s a special sort of energy.”
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A BRIEF LOOK THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN T/E NEWS
Conestoga
announces plan for virtual in struction in upcoming school year
For the upcoming school year, Conestoga is offering select standard courses in a virtual format. Virtual courses will be grouped in the morning or afternoon, allowing students more flexibility in their transportation schedules. Unlike the current hybrid class structure, all students enrolled in virtual courses will be online. While virtual courses will be part live and part asynchronous, they receive the same credit and weight as standard in-person courses.
District hosts vaccine clinics for students
TESD recently partnered with Dr. Chichi Momah, a pharmacist from Springfield Pharmacy, to host vaccine clinics for eligible students. Originally limited to those 15 and older, the clinics were later expanded to include students 12 older following approvals from the FDA and CDC. The next district vaccine clinic will be held on June 11 at Valley Forge Middle School, with the possibility of additional clinics throughout the summer or fall. Read more at
News
Former counselor says stress less for college admissions Maya Shah
Photography Editor Each year, colleges nationwide receive more than 1 million applications sent by seniors anxiously awaiting a life-changing decision. For many, this process is a long and tiring one, requiring months of preparation. At Conestoga, this looks no different, creating stress for students preparing for the college admissions process. Former Conestoga counselor Steve Becker set out in hopes of limiting this stress. He created a website called Less High School Stress to provide high schoolers with meaningful resources that can help reduce the amount of stress surrounding college admissions. During his 18 years at Conestoga, he witnessed first-hand the harmful nature of college admissions stress when talking to students and advocated for students to explore less selective schools. “Our job as counselors was to help people understand that the options for where you can get a good education go well beyond the schools whose names are on the tips of everybody’s tongues,” Becker said.
Staff Reporter Awards ceremony recognizes outstanding juniors
The annual Junior Awards Ceremony took place in the auditorium on Thursday, May 27. Hosted by principal Dr. Amy Meisinger, awards from math and science to social justice were given out to standout juniors this school year.
At Conestoga, the desire to attend elite schools is especially prevalent. Senior Ansh Goyal attests to the competitive environment at Conestoga due to the rigorous course options and extracurricular opportunities available. “I think it kind of makes (the admissions process) a lot more stressful because at Conestoga you’re so worried about where everyone else is going,” Goyal said. This stress also extends to course selection and the pressure to take advanced classes. Senior Saadhi Jakka notes that honors and AP classes, as opposed to accelerated classes, are oftentimes seen as the norm at Conestoga. “That makes a lot of people feel like they’re not smart enough, even though if they went to another school they (would be),” Jakka said. Becker started working on his website in 2018, finishing little bits and pieces by fall. The final product, though, wasn’t advertised until 2020, when he started notifying administrators about his findings. Throughout the process, Becker maintained a goal of debunking the myth that there are only a few schools that can lead people to happy and successful careers.
“For the vast majority of people who are bright, hardworking and ambitious, you’re going to have a very bright future. I just want to make sure that everybody knows that,” Becker said. Becker’s website presents many resources, including presentations on the adverse effects of admissions stress. However, the main resources are the lists, separated by career paths ranging from business to arts management to law, which show where successful members of the field attended college. “You can see that people who attend schools that are not among the most selective are also getting jobs at the most desirable employers,” Becker said. “You know, while you’re in high school, you don’t have to stress out about that.” The process of forming these ideas into written resources took time. After brainstorming and researching, Becker finally settled on a comparison between the most selective schools and less selective schools, hoping to show that the quality of education between such schools is relatively similar. Becker says the lack of information cur-
For the first time, the Tredyffrin/Easttown School District is hosting a summer English language enrichment camp for middle and high school students. Announced during an Education Committee meeting on April 8, the camp will bring students learning the English
language together from June 21 to June 25 for a free, week-long virtual teaching session ending with an optional field trip to Valley Forge National Park. For the past ten years, English learners in the district’s elementary schools have had the opportunity to attend reading summer camps. With the introduction of the new camp this year, students in middle and high school will get an
opportunity to improve upon their English as well. Angela Pavloff, an English Language Department teacher at Tredyffrin/Easttown Middle School, advocated strongly for a camp that extended to middle and high schoolers. “The elementary schools have been offering summer camps for their English learners for years. I was simply lobbying for the middle and high schools
T/E LIFE
Music Department streams spring concert
Band, orchestra and choir members are packed together in the auditorium, playing and singing in harmony for a large crowd. Usually, the annual spring concert is just that, a series of songs performed by Conestoga students. A streamed performance, this year’s show offers musicians different ways to perform.
Unity Fair a success despite pandemic conditions
From minigolf to dunk tanks, numerous activities and games took place at the annual Unity Fair on Friday, May 28. The event’s goal is to bring the school community together and offer a fun break from regularly scheduled classes before students leave for summer. OPINION
Eliminating toxicity once and for all
Trying to thrive in a toxic environment is like swimming against the tide with cinder blocks chained to your ankles: a near-impossible feat. But what is it that makes someone toxic? SPORTS
Staying cool with hotter temperatures
Courtesy Deana Wang Courtesy of Steve Becker
Calming down: Former Conestoga counselor Steve Becker sits at his desk in front of his website, Less High School Stress. Becker created this site to help teenagers deal with college admissions stress. rently available on the topic was one of his motivators in creating this site. “There’s not a whole lot of literature out there on it. I think most of the important stuff is on my website; I wanted to make that accessible to people,” Becker said. Becker hopes that his site helps students put the importance of college in perspective and understand that there are more under-
graduate options than they originally imagined. With determination, Becker feels that students can achieve anything, but reminds people that there are other important things to consider. “Working hard is important, but also knowing when to stop and relax for a bit is awesome,” Becker said. Regardless of all of the pressure surrounding college admissions, Becker believes
Courtesy of Dr. Oscar Torres
to follow suit,” Pavloff said. “We are thankful that we can offer this opportunity now, albeit at a less opportune time that requires us to meet virtually.” However, the process of extending an English camp to middle and high school students has been in the works for a few years. In 2020, the district applied for a Title III federal grant, which focuses on creating opportunities for English learners to improve their skills. The Title III funds provide the necessary resources for the summer camp and have proven especially helpful in a summer mired by COVID-19. “Once the camp was approved and finances secured, the current COVID-19 pandemic was the greatest challenge. Due to the pandemic, enrollment of international students was lower than usual,” Pavloff said. Sarah Taylor, an English Language Department teacher at Conestoga, was also part of
the planning process and will be leading the summer camp. “For a long time, I was a Spanish teacher. Then I switched over to teaching English, so I know what it’s like to learn another language and to see it from the other side. Teaching another language and then switching over, it made me want to do this even more,” Taylor said. “The camp is just offering more opportunities for students who really want to practice (their English) and also so that they can talk to their classmates more, especially this year.” Pavloff spoke to the benefits of the camp, many of which extend beyond simply improving English-speaking proficiency. For example, the camp meets the district’s established goal of strengthening the community. “The summer camp enhances social, emotional and academic learning. We hope (it’s) fun-filled as well,” Pavloff said.
After the 2021 debut, the district hopes to continue the camp each summer with support from more Title III funds. After this summer, the district will both revise the camp based on feedback and look to create other potential summer learning camps for the future. For Dr. Oscar Torres, head of the district English Language Department Program and Director of State and Federal Programs, the process of forming the summer program has been immensely gratifying on a personal level. “(The process) provided me with the opportunity to get to know our students and families that are new to this country, community and the English language. It reminds me of my own journey as a child that led me to Pennsylvania from Puerto Rico,” Torres said. “My goal is to make sure that every student is provided with the opportunities they deserve to demonstrate their academic success.”
A sneak peak inside the Conestoga expansion project Evan Lu and Mindy Wang News Editor and Staff Reporter
As the school year comes to a close, the Conestoga High School expansion project rapidly nears its Aug. 17 deadline. With an overall projected budget of $39.6 million, the project includes the construction of new internal and external infrastructure. Internal additions include an atrium, 11 regular classrooms, three special education classrooms, four science labs, an art room, a fabrication lab and other smaller spaces for meetings and offices. Meanwhile, external additions include increased parking for students and a sports bus queue. The atrium serves as the centerpiece for the entire project. According to assistant principal Dr. Patrick Boyle, the atrium design was chosen for its adaptability and multi-purpose function. “What we wanted is to have somewhere comfortable for students to go – another space that’s not the library, that’s not the cafeteria, but a space that’s built around (students’) needs,” Boyle said.
New restrooms are another key aspect of the project. Unlike the multi-person, gendered restrooms currently available to students, some new restrooms are structured to be unisex and serve a single student at a time. “Creating individual stalls allows students access to the areas that make them most comfortable,” Boyle said. “Whatever the situation might be, anyone can feel comfortable in what they’re doing.” However, Boyle’s favorite part of the expansion is not the flashy atrium or fabrication lab. Instead, he’s particularly excited for the construction of a new area for life skills students that includes a kitchenette, laundry room, and full bathroom. “It gives them the opportunity to have the items that they use on a daily basis right next to them, rather than traveling to several different classrooms to do that,” Boyle said. With the project currently on track to finish just before its deadline, it seems likely that the new rooms and resources will be available for students and faculty in the upcoming year.
Check out a video tour At spoke.news! Evan Lu/The SPOKE
Cool views (above): Workers strive to finish the atrium, the centerpiece of the expansion project. Once completed, the atrium will serve as a public space for students and faculty to meet, do work and relax. It may also be used as a space for school-wide assemblies or presentations.
Evan Lu/The SPOKE
Sports practices in the spring are notorious for cool, breezy conditions shifting to hot, sunny weather in seconds. With the new requirement for masks this past year, these conditions have only intensified for athletes.
Taking shape (far left): Construction progresses outside the fabrication lab. One of the shiniest new additions to the school, the fabrication lab will be used for classes, clubs like Science Olympiad and Robotics and other STEM-related activities.
Student-athletes reflect on year of change
From dealing with shorter sports seasons to playing games with masks on, there have been many changes to how student athletes can pursue sports over the past school year. As a result of distance learning, most sports in the winter season had much fewer games and practices than a normal school year would allow students to participate in.
that the most important part of the process is discovering your interests, especially as a high schooler. “Finding something that you really are excited to do and every time you do it is pretty much a guarantee of a happy and successful career in that area,” Becker said. “I’d say pursuing a passion, figuring out what your passion is, would be the number one priority.”
District hosts English language enrichment summer camp Kate Phillips
NEWS
Monday, June 7, 2021
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Abby Carella/The SPOKE
Looking out (near left): Assistant principal Dr. Patrick Boyle surveys a room in a new wing of the building. Boyle has overseen the project from the very beginning and hopes that the expansion will allow for students to be more comfortable.
News
Monday, June 7, 2021
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State sex education in the status quo Continued from page 1. Pennsylvania schools stress abstinence Through Elana Willinsky’s work with Planned Parenthood, a nonprofit organization that provides sexual health care and defends reproductive rights, she has come to the conclusion that abstinence-based sex education is ineffective. Willinsky is the External Affairs Manager of Planned Parenthood Southeastern Pennsylvania and advocates for state-mandated sex education. “There are countless studies proving that abstinence-only education does not work, yet there are still young people in Pennsylvania who are receiving abstinence-only lessons, often along with medically inaccurate information, ideology instead of information, and shame and stigma,” Willinsky said. “Comprehensive sex education reinforces that freedom around sexuality and sexual decision-making is a human right.” Cabel agrees with Willinsky and wishes that the education she received was not focused on abstinence. To her, abstinence-based education is not beneficial nor is it doing students justice; she sees the lack of required sex education as a rejection of the truth. “We’re not learning the important things that we need to learn because (the state) is denying that children are having sex. We need sex ed to teach kids how to be safe,” Cabel said. “Abstinence and virginity both as concepts tie in together because they teach children that their self worth is based on their sexual activity.” Conestoga’s past with sex education Up until 2009, Conestoga had two mandatory health courses: Health 1 in freshman year and its successor, Health 2, in junior year. The former semester-long course included the topics of sex versus sexuality, male and female reproductive systems, menstruation, pregnancy, birth control, sexual assault, domestic violence, decision-making, abstinence, and sexual exploitation. In 2009, the course was discontinued in a decision voted upon by the school board. According to district curriculum supervisor Oscar Torres, this type of change is quite common.
Reese Wang/The SPOKE
Photo Illustration by Aditi Dahagam/The SPOKE
Asking away: Middle school students are given access to a question box in health class. Teachers are required to answer strictly according to curriculum guidelines. If a teacher believes that they cannot answer a question using curriculum content, they are instructed to tell the student to ask another trusted adult or research the topic on their own. “We have a summer workshop with our teachers, and whenever we see that the profession is changing, we work to come up with new lessons and units to adjust the curriculum in the district,” Torres said. “We (the curriculum supervisors) believe in a bottom-up approach where (the teachers) are the ones that say, ‘Okay, this is what we’re recommending,’ and then we will develop an updated curriculum for the following year.” After Health 2 was discontinued, the Health 1 course expanded to become Health and Fitness. The curriculum from Health 2, including its sex education lessons, was never implemented into Health 1. Regarding other classes at the high school, Conestoga offers the elective Anatomy and Phys-
iology to sophomores, juniors and seniors. However, since the course does not teach reproductive health, Conestoga does not currently offer any classes that teach human sexuality. Consequences of not having sex education With only one semester of health in freshman year that does not cover sex education, junior Namrta Wagle has concerns regarding not being taught about reproductive health, sexual pressure and inclusivity, as she has noticed a lack of knowledge surrounding these topics at the high school. “We did not have a sex ed unit (in Conestoga’s health course), and there are kids who really need it. I don’t even know how many kids are walk-
ing around ’Stoga without the knowledge of how to have safe sex. Like, they couldn’t even tell you what a condom is,” Wagle said. “I wouldn’t even know how to tell you what’s lacking (from sex education) because I have not received sex education. It just didn’t happen.” Furthering Wagle’s point that the health curriculum did not teach safe sex practices, freshman Brett Baptiste notes specific topics on which he would have liked to receive lessons. “They (the health teachers) are like, ‘Oh, yeah, LGBTQ+ community,’ but they’re not actually talking about it. I think they beat around the bush whenever they tried to talk about it,” Baptiste said. With a masters degree in Human Sexuality Education, Al Vernacchio, a national sex-
e the SAT and ACT will just go away??
st wishful thinking, you’re still going to have to take it. Many schools that are “test optional” be next year. So time to start thinking about a plan for getting really, really good at it, even if you te standardized tests. Find out more at CrimsonReview.com.
uality educator and speaker, validates Baptiste’s concerns. He teaches sex education to students ages 3 to 18 as the sexuality education coordinator for Friends’ Central School in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. One of his core values in sex education instruction is creating an inclusive environment for his students. “By definition, sex ed that is not inclusive is prejudiced,” Vernacchio said. “A lot of people think that means that you should have a separate section on LGBTQ+ folks in your sex ed class, but that’s not what you want to do; you want to integrate, not isolate.” Like Baptiste, freshman Olivia Chu recounts the minimal sex education she received in middle school, defining it as “non-inclusive.” In her eyes, the curriculum centered on cisgender — a person whose sense of gender identity corresponds with their birth sex — and straight students, disregarding those who do not fit into the binary. “I think the (middle school) health program has been directed towards cis(gender) and straight audiences: my (middle school health) teacher completely avoided (gender and sexuality topics),” Chu said. “When one of my classmates participated and asked about things in terms of sexual orientation pertaining to LGBTQ+ people, my teacher just said, ‘You can research that on your own.’” The teacher’s response in this situation was in accordance with state legislation. Questions asked in health class must be answered according to curricular guidelines, and because LGBTQ+ topics are not addressed in the middle school curriculum, teachers are barred from discussing it. Junior Thomas Dunlap believes that the district’s decision to keep LGBTQ+ topics out of class is not the right course of action. He explains how the lack of open discussion is a major factor in stu-
Maybe the SAT and ACT will just go away?? No, no, that’s just wishful thinking, you’re still going to have to take it. Many schools that are “test optional” this year won’t be next year. So time to start thinking about a plan for getting really, really good at it, even if you really, really hate standardized tests. Find out more at CrimsonReview.com.
dents turning to the internet for information. “If we leave anything untaught, then the internet will fill in those gaps with misconceptions and bad information. When it comes to important topics like health and safety during sex, it really can’t be left up to the internet to teach us,” Dunlap said. Speaking from her 38 years of experience as a health teacher, Mariani stresses the negative effects of relying on information from the internet. “As a person who’s certified in (health and physical education), (safe sex) is an important topic for kids to learn about from an expert,” Mariani said. “Learning about it from the internet? Not a good idea. Learning about it from a friend? Not a good idea. Learning about it from some TV show? Not a good idea. And I think that that’s where a lot of kids are getting their behaviors from: social media.” Citing the internet, specifically social media, as a spreader of misinformation, Dunlap references the benefits of open conversation in health class and how it can teach consent from a young age. “Rape culture is only perpetuated when you don’t talk about consent. We really need to get open classroom discussion. It doesn’t have to be personal, but it has to (include) real life application: what people would do in scenarios, how can they do it differently and (how to) make it actually pertinent to people’s lives,” Dunlap said. “A lot of health class just goes over people’s heads because it seems like, ‘Oh, yeah, that won’t be me.’ If health class is removed from the people, it’s not going to be very useful.” Stigma around the word “sex” While Vernacchio recognizes that balancing various opinions is difficult for school
districts, he urges people to recognize their internal biases against words like “sexuality.” To avoid confusion and rumors, Vernacchio always starts off his human sexuality courses by defining the word itself. “When people hear the word sexuality, what they think about is sex and sexual activity,” Vernacchio said. “One of the first things I do (as a sexuality education coordinator) is make it really clear that when I say the word sexuality, I mean something much bigger than that. For me, sexuality involves our bodies, our minds, our hearts, our relationships and the way we live in the world, not just what’s between a person’s legs and what they do with it.” According to Vernacchio, something as simple as the definition of “human sexuality” in the context of sex education holds a negative connotation in today’s world and will not be destigmatized until sex education is mandated and available for everyone. This is part of the reason representative Benham is advocating for H.B. 1335; it’s important to her that students are given accurate information. As a person who was not taught sex education in high school, Benham reflects on how that impacted her development. “When I was in high school, I did not have the best information to make safe and healthy choices for myself. I think that having all of the necessary information about how our bodies work, about how reproduction works, about what sexually transmitted infections are, pregnancy and so on is really important because it allows young people to make informed decisions,” Benham said. “That’s something that I wish that I would have had myself and I think that giving young people information allows them to have more control over what their future looks like.”
T/E LIFE
Monday, June 7, 2021
Juniors win award after leading community project
Teacher Feature: Emmy talian
Abby Carella
Multimedia Editor
Chanelle Ongagna/The SPOKE
Recreational reader: Honors American Voices and Honors Language and Composition teacher Emmy Talian reads “The Hate U Give” behind her desk in Room 288. Talian was an avid reader growing up and always wanted to go into a career that involved books.
Chanelle Ongagna Staff Reporter
For English teacher Emmy Talian, literature has always achieved three things: teaching empathy, bridging connections with others and developing a better understanding of her surroundings. From childhood, Talian loved to read books and knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life reading and analyzing the intricacies of language. Because of her passion for reading, she chose a career that combined her love of literature with her extrovert qualities. “I was a big bookworm,” said Talian, who teaches Honors American Voices and Honors Language and Composition. “I would stay up way past my bedtime with a flashlight under the sheets so I could keep reading. My fifth grade teacher had to rubber-band a book shut so I wouldn’t read ahead and spoil the book for everyone in my class.” Her father’s pharmaceutical job took her family to Switzerland for two years, where she befriended people from various different countries at her international school. Talian credits
the experience with deepening her understanding of the world and interacting with others. “That very international experience gelled well with my understanding of books as a way to kind of connect with other world experiences,” Talian said. “I think my relationship to books and seeing literature is really a way of coming to understand the world and understand other people.” Despite majoring in English at college, Talian struggled to choose a career. Many people suggested teaching, but she was not convinced until she took an education course and instantly loved it. Her sophomore year, she double majored in education as well as English. “I’d had a vague idea of being a book editor,” Talian said. “Being paid to read books: that sounds like my ideal job, and you know what, I still get paid to read books, I just talk about them with students instead of with other adults.” For Talian, the best part of teaching is the ability to form relationships after analyzing a book read for an assignment. Each year, she looks forward to teaching “The Great Gats-
by,” not only because each read reveals something new, but also because students seem to identify with and relate to Fitzgerald’s commentary on American culture. Similarly, “Native Son” is Talian’s favorite book to teach because it sparks challenging yet productive conversations about controversial and relevant material. “I love when I can see students making connections,responding to each other, really listening, and pushing themselves to make an attack,” Talian said. A fan of both classics and contemporary literature, Talian often reads outside of class lessons. Her favorite American author is Toni Morrison, whose commentary on literature in the large scheme of things exposed her to a different way of approaching the classics she reads and teaches. “Her own fiction is just so incredibly beautiful and heartbreaking and poetic and thought-provoking,” Talian said. “As a student, I didn’t understand what was happening here. But as an adult, I read her book ‘Sula’ in a book club with friends this summer, and the discussions we had were so rich.”
Talian’s other passion outside of reading is dance. A dancer since the age of 3, she did ballet throughout most of college and eventually co-founded a dance group. After college, she decided to pursue dancing by taking part in swing-dancing. However, quarantine made it difficult to maintain her dance former schedule, as people were not getting togtether to dance in groups. “I have had a couple of Zoom dance-jam sessions with two of my friends from college where we’ll be on video and mirror each other’s movements. We used those as a way to feel a sense of community,” Talian said. Talian believes that fostering a sense of community is one of her most important motivations for teaching in the way that she does. It creates a stronger bond between the teachers and students in the classroom. “I think the beautiful thing about teaching is, I get to form relationships with my students and with my colleagues around the thing that I love,” Talian said. “I get to help other people experience the joy of learning and growing as a person through learning.”
Members of Hand4Hand Global, an organization founded by junior Aditya Sirohi, recently organized a dinner full of international cuisine for those suffering from food insecurity in downtown Philadelphia. The event, known as Project Taste Diversity, was made possible after Sirohi and his organization won the 2021 Hershey Heartwarming Young Heroes Global Youth Service Day Grant. Sirohi established Hand4Hand in August 2020 after joining TEDxYouth@Berwyn with fellow member, junior Deepthi Sathyanarayana, in which they held discussions about topics such as poverty, self-entrepreneurship and the environment. Working with the TEDx group sparked a desire to go beyond simply speaking upon issues. “I wanted to go above just talking about issues, to a point where I would actually address (the issues) and create an impact in the community and help out those in need,” Sirohi said. “Especially with the pandemic causing so many difficulties, especially for those in under-served communities.” Although Hand4Hand is run independently from ’Stoga, they
connect with the school to find volunteers and members, which is how they created the rest of their team, which is made up of juniors Elena Schmidt, Shrey Sitaram and Hiroki Yamaguchi. The organization’s name, coined by founder Sirohi, stems from the work they do. “We’re a community, and we’re helping out others. When you give someone your hand for, say, a handshake, it’s a sign of connection, and you’re representing bonding and support,” Sirohi said. Over spring break, Sirohi applied to the Hershey grant with an idea to host a large dinner on April 24 in honor of Global Youth Service Day. He planned for the event to be catered by a diverse spread of local families and restaurants with a goal to serve those experiencing food insecurity while also allowing them to experience different cultures through the cuisine offered. Hand4Hand won the grant and partnered with local Philadelphia nonprofit Doing Our Part Eclectically to make the event a success. After winning the grant, the Hand4Hand team began a weeklong drive to collect materials and food for the dinner. They reached out to neigh-
bors, friends and local restaurants, including DanDan and Toninos, asking them to donate food. After reaching out to the community, the team made dozens of sandwiches for the event. Along with sandwich materials, Hand4Hand used the grant money to buy paper plates, towels and to-go containers to ensure the event followed COVID-19 protocols.They work to spread word of their drives through networking and community connections; social media outlets; and their parents, who help reach out to their own friends to donate food. Looking back, Sirohi recalls a striking encounter with a previously-homeless man who approached him at the table. “He came up to us and was like, ‘Are you guys serving fresh food? Is this free?’ We said ‘yes,’ and he started explaining (that) when he had been homeless, these meals that were handed out had helped him get through so many nights, especially when it was colder, and just provided a sense of security,” Sirohi said. “He just kept on repeating how much of a blessing (our work) was and how great of a work we were doing.”
Courtesy Aditya Sirohi
Lending a hand: Founder of Hand4Hand Global, junior Aditya Sirohi, hands out food during a food drive he organized. The donations were made by local families, neighbors and friends.
Multilingual master: Sophomore pursues linguistics Hiba Samdani
Co-T/E Life Editor
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Sophomore Justin Liu has achieved mastery in speaking four languages at age 16. Liu began his linguistic journey learning to speak both English and Chinese in his household. When he entered sixth grade, he was introduced to German, but he did not regard it as a language he planned to pursue at first. The following year, though, when Liu decided that he wanted to attempt learning a new language, he chose German because of his prior experience. “I was just curious, and I wanted to learn a new language, (so) German popped in my mind,” Liu said. He took on the challenge of learning German by starting with basic exposure to the language. As his practice became more serious, he began watching YouTube videos and other media in German. In addition, he used a smart system flashcard program called Anki, which specializes in memory retention. As Liu eventually gained familiarity with the language, he practiced by joining a discussion thread in which people from around the world communicated in German. “I met this really good friend from Germany, and we would always talk about random things and share these stories,” Liu said. “We would also share
cultural differences between Germany and America, and that was really insightful.” Because Liu achieved mastery in the language, he entered his freshman year taking AP German. He finished the year by attaining a five on the AP test, the highest score achievable, and his German teacher, Kevin Nerz, felt that Liu’s linguistic ability was unlike any other student he had seen. “I have had a couple of kids who have self-taught themselves to a high level, but he just blows them away,” Nerz said. “Sometimes some words aren’t as fresh in my head, but I can go to Justin and say, ‘Hey, what word do you think is good here?’ and he can chime in.” Nerz credits Liu’s strength with retaining difficult phrases and remembering grammatical nuances as part of his success. He has the cognitive ability of recall and recollection, which allows him to pick up on vocabulary words quicker than other students. “As far as my career at Conestoga, (Liu’s) talents and language are unprecedented,” Nerz said. “He doesn’t learn in such a mechanical way and just excels in all areas.” Now that he has developed the ability to speak German, Liu has decided to tackle the challenge of taking AP Chinese and AP French this year. Although he considers Mandarin his first language, the
lack of speaking the language regularly in his life has led him to forget common phrases and vocabulary. In taking AP Chinese, he hopes to become proficient to the point where he can maintain a conversation with others once again. Part of Liu’s motivation behind learning all these languages are the connections he can form with other people from different backgrounds and the
heightened cultural awareness that comes as a result. “When you learn a language, it feels like the other person will really respect you a bit more because (you are) taking your time to learn their language,” Liu said. Liu knows for certain that he wants to continue expanding his knowledge in linguistics in the future. Although it is unclear which language
he would like to pursue next, he has an interest in learning Arabic, Japanese, Russian and Estonian. “I will be continuing on with linguistics in university for sure, (but) with which languages, I can’t say for certain,” Liu said. “But I can say for certain that German will definitely be something I will be continuing. (The other languages) would be my dream languages.”
Courtesy Justin Liu
Linguistic learner: Sophomore Justin Liu practices speaking German on his computer. Liu began learning the language in seventh grade and has loved it ever since.
T/E Life
Monday, June 7, 2021
5
Farewell to the four: Retiring staff remember their experiences Story by Melissa Fan, Staff Reporter, design by Aditi Dahagam, Co-T/E Life Editor
Courtesy Jean Mihelcic
JEAN MIHELCIC - science
Melissa Fan/The SPOKE
susan o’keeffe - secretary
Chemistry has always been a point of great interest for Jean Mihelcic. With both a bachelor’s and doctorate degree in the field, Mihelcic researched for DuPont before receiving her certification to teach high school students. For the past 21 years, she has taught all levels of chemistry and advised the Chemistry Club. “I love the transformative part of chemistry. (It) allows us to create new materials, and those materials allow us to make our lives. I really enjoy the part of chemistry where you can take ordinary materials (and) substances and combine them in new ways and processes,” Mihelcic said. Because of her own passion in chemistry, Mihelcic enjoys helping students open their eyes toward that field by doing lab experiments in the classroom with students and talking about how chemistry impacts daily life. One way she does this is by celebrating Mole Day with her students each year on Oct. 23 by creating stuffed animal moles. Recently, Mihelcic was also awarded the American Chemical Society Division of Chemical Education Middle Atlantic Region Award for Excellence in High School Teaching. Overall, Mihelcic loves to work with students, and she will miss interacting with them the most after retiring. “I’m going to miss all of (the students),” Mihelcic said. “I really love working with students because you all are funny, you’re spontaneous, you’re full of hope and optimism, and you really want to change things for the better and improve the world.” “I’m certainly not going to miss getting up at five o’clock in the morning every morning. Not missing that alarm at all,” said Susan O’Keeffe who is retiring from the school after working in the district for 24 years. After originally teaching in a nursery school, O’Keeffe transitioned to the T/E School District by first working at T/E Middle School before switching to Conestoga two years later. For the past 10 years, she has worked as assistant to Principal Amy Meisinger. During this time, she has also helped with graduation and open house. “I started teaching in the nursery school, and I wanted something more,” O’Keeffe said. “A job came up here, and I just went for it. I thought, ‘What do I have to lose?’ I did it, I got (the job). I was happy that I did, and the rest is history. Twenty-two years later, here I am.” While O’Keeffe doesn’t have a specific highlight in her years at Conestoga, her favorite part about working here is the great relationships between the students and faculty. She also plans to visit the school once she retires because she lives nearby. “I’m going to miss the socialization with all the people that I’ve met,” O’Keeffe said. “The friendships, the camaraderie, the stories that we share every day.”
Courtesy Marcia Mariani
marcia mariani - health, pe
Courtesy Kim Thomsen
KIM THOMSEN - sub coordinator
After teaching for 31 years at Conestoga, Marcia Mariani says that she will miss laughing with her students during class. She loves spending time with her students and watching them improve. Mariani’s most memorable moment was the uplifting feeling she felt when students successfully reached an athletic-oriented goal. She recalls this elation when students first made contact with a badminton birdie after initially having difficulty and when they were able to run two miles after struggling to finish one. “Watching kids accomplish things is really amazing — (those moments) are like the highlight moments. In health classes, the sharing and the caring that goes into participation in that class is truly amazing,” Mariani said. Not only has Mariani enjoyed teaching her students, but she also appreciates learning from them. “I had a professor when I was in college say to our class, ‘If you’re going to be a teacher, you have to remember that you’re not the only person in the room who’s teaching,’ and I thought that was probably one of the most profound things that was ever said to me in college,” Mariani said. “I’ve tried to carry that with me my entire life.” Mariani also took a large part in the Peer Mediation program as one of the advisers, naming it one of the aspects she would miss most from the school. “I’ll miss Peer Mediation terribly, it’s been such a huge part of my life since 1990,” Mariani said. The advisers who have been involved in most recent years are amazing, and I just feel so lucky that I was able to finish my career in Peer Mediation with them by my side.” “I will miss walking into this incredible environment of education. I will miss seeing the students engaged and on their way, designing their future,” retiring substitute coordinator Kim Thomsen said. Thomsen enjoys working with her colleagues, noting that the chance to learn something new was the highlight of each day in her 26 years at Conestoga. She often likes to spend a few moments catching up with her co-workers and learning about a variety of topics, from dark matter to the Constitution. “Catching a few minutes with a teacher willing to share their knowledge is a gift,” Thomsen said. Not only is she a member of the Conestoga staff, but Thomsen is also the parent of several students attending the high school. She credited the committed teachers, coaches and staff of Conestoga for helping her children eventually become successful professionals. “The most rewarding part of my job was working with so many inspiring professionals. Individuals with varying talents and knowledge all willing to share and work together. I can say I literally have hundreds of friends at Conestoga,” Thomsen said. “Conestoga is a very special place.”
“Broadway Musical Magic”: Theater department performs outdoors Jui Bhatia and Aditi Dahagam
Beats Editor and Co-T/E Life Editor Given the long history of musicals held in a conventional auditorium setting, the theater department never imagined moving the production outdoors. This year, though, the theater department performed on Teamer Field, making this the first ever outdoor musical. On June 5, the pit orchestra and actors staged two shows of “Broadway Musical Magic,” a medley performance of 12 songs from various Broadway musicals. Director and choreographer Nathan Shughart wanted an outdoor perfor-
mance so he could include as many students as possible and have a live audience. “Performers feed off the energy of a live audience, and family members are able to see their students in a year where there has not been a lot of moments like this. I also wanted to make sure we could include the amazing crews and pit orchestra that put in as many hours as the actors to prepare for the show,” Shughart said. “This was the best way to include everyone.” Since there are regulations on how many people can attend large outdoor gatherings under the district’s Health and Safety Plan, students in the performance received
10 tickets for each show that they could give to friends and family. All students and staff involved in the musical were required to socially distance and wear masks during the performance and rehearsals. As the student assistant to the director, junior Ella Canas says these requirements didn’t affect rehearsals because students still brought the same enthusiasm displayed in previous years. “Rehearsals are just like any other year. Theater kids just have so much energy. Even with the restrictions and masks and all of that, they still bring the same energy and the same love for what we’re doing which makes it
just an incredible experience,” Canas said. Outdoor rehearsals also created some challenges for actors because they were subject to cancellation when inclement weather transpired. Additionally, Shughart was not able to play the piano while singers learned their parts because it would be difficult to transport it from the classroom to the practice area every day. To tackle these issues, the performers took actions such as learning vocal parts at home before coming to practice. A soloist in the performance, senior Alison Noll, believes that despite these challenges, the performers found ways to stay
Aditi Dahagam/The SPOKE
Build on: Stage crew assembles the modular stage behind Teamer Field. They designed a new set-up that is easily transportable and dismantlable. motivated and create memories during rehearsals. “We have been having a lot of fun as a cast and really enjoy getting to see each other again,” Noll said. “We always are laughing, probably more than we should be.” The outdoor location of the play also posed challenges for stage crew because they shared Teamer Field with athletes. To solve this problem, advisers Noah Austin and Michael Starner created a portable and easily dismantlable modular stage that could be brought to the field the day of the show. Similarly, since the sound crew could not use the sound system that is already in the auditorium, they designed a transportable sound system which included speakers, subwoofers and monitors to achieve a similar sound quality in the outdoors
environment. Additionally, the pit orchestra used electronic instruments, such as synthesizers and electronic drum sets, and microphones to amplify the music. Pit orchestra and sound director Christopher Nation was excited to take on the challenge of moving the musical outdoors. “We embrace the new problems we need to solve and solutions that we need to find
Sophomore Molly Yablonovitz attended the musical to support her friends and see the talent of everyone involved. “(Performers) have been working on (the musical) for months and they’ve put a lot of effort into it,” Yablonovitz said. “It’s really cool that they found a way to still produce the musical safely.” Shughart was also excited about the outdoor musical because it boosted morale and allowed performers to showcase their hard work to a live audience. “I wanted to give the students and their families a live theatrical performance in a time when live theater has been very limited,” Shughart said. “Theater can be performed anyDirector where, and while the outdoor performances bring many new challenges, it also opens many creative doors.”
Performers feed off the energy of a live audience, and family members are able to see their students in a year where there has not been a lot of moments like this.
Alexis Costas/The SPOKE
Dancing in the streets: Performers in the musical learn their choreography in the school parking lot near the baseball field. The theater department moved the musical outdoors this year so they could adhere to COVID-19 guidelines and have a live audience.
Nathan Shughart to produce a unique event like nothing we have ever done before,” Nation said.
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west
Senior Destina
california CALIFORNIA POLYTECHNIC STATE UNIVERSITY, SAN LUIS OBISPO Cassie Latoff, Ava Thompson SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY Jonathan Siah, Justin Vu STANFORD UNIVERSITY Oriana Riley UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE Noelle Doan UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES Katie Shi UNIVERSITY OF SAN DIEGO Thatcher Hamill UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Will Norris
colorado COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY Ella Duncan UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BOULDER Sloan Cassidy, Teddy Delaney, Kailey Fox, Minna Gersbach UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO COLORADO SPRINGS Marley Tomko UNIVERSITY OF DENVER Phoebe Hutton
utah UNIVERSITY OF UTAH Brett Pellegrini
midwest illinois DEPAUL UNIVERSITY Luke Lynam, Jordan Wright NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY Angeline Ma UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS Ty Seifert UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS URBANA-CHAMPAIGN Relena Li
indiana BUTLER UNIVERSITY Grace Shackleford INDIANA UNIVERSITY Samantha Plastino, Colin White PURDUE UNIVERSITY Adam Francis, Hayden Moesler, Andrew Wu, Ben Yang, Alex Yucha UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME William Connolly, Brendan Fahey
michigan CALVIN UNIVERSITY Julia Lewandowski UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Sam Brown, Jaden Douglas, Arnav Kaushik, Lydia Naser, Rayna Ostroff, Jack Wieser, Eric C. Zhao
minnesota UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA Jessica Reintjes
missouri UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI Olivia Janson WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS Devin Berson
ohio DENISON UNIVERSITY Anna Devuono KENYON COLLEGE Axel Kennedy-Lange MIAMI UNIVERSITY Kitt Burlington, Haley Faris OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY Ethan Ostroff
OTHER PLANS
ABROAD
IE UNIVERSITY (SPAIN) Emma Dutton MCGILL UNIVERSITY (CANADA) Lola Judek QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY (CANADA) Miguel Canas TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN (IRELAND) John Arthey, Corinne Mahon, Lilia Sawyer, Chloe Wynn UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON (UNITED KINGDOM) Krystelle Montanez UNIVERSITY OF KENT (UNITED KINGDOM) Sadie Wren UNIVERSITY OF WEST LONDON (UNITED KINGDOM) Zoe Hunter
EMPLOYMENT CHROME INSTITUTE OF COSMOTOLOGY Kelsie Carr EMPIRE BEAUTY SCHOOL Norah McNabb AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION Valerio Pucci
VOCATIONAL SCHOOL
TECHNICAL COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOL Evangeline Wu
gap year Olivia Rainbow, JT Zellefrow VIRGINIA TECH Zakiyah Gaziuddin
UNDECIDED Kylar Kelly
south alabama AUBURN UNIVERSITY Matthew Evitts UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA Paige Barajas, Andrew Mason
florida ECKERD COLLEGE Kerry Aneser FLAGER COLLEGE Ainsley McCullen UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA Paige Kleppe, Lily Weiss UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI Jonah Abramson, Claire Connelly UNIVERSITY OF TAMPA Bridget Homan
georgia
south carolina CLEMSON UNIVERSITY Jane Branov, Liza Jones, Julia Morgan COASTAL CAROLINA UNIVERSITY Eric Cha COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON Emily Dougherty, Aric Lexow, Rowan McLaughlin UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA Allie Broz, Kyle Gartner, Annabel Schwartz, Caroline Wisch
EMORY UNIVERSITY Sanjay Aiyer, Makayla Siu UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA Emily Meaney
tennessee
louisiana
texas
LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY Justin Schopf TULANE UNIVERSITY Emily Brockman, Nate Dutton, Kieran Matson, Isabella Webb
RICE UNIVERSITY Isaiah Chen TEXAS CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY Dj Penske, Willow Thompson
north carolina
virginia
DUKE UNIVERSITY Drew Hottenstein EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY Walker Burdette ELON UNIVERSITY Kevin Erickson, Nick Kathol, Annabelle Roberts, Andy Sloan HIGH POINT UNIVERSITY Eamon Walker NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY Ellie Bruni UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, WILMINGTON Peyton Erdek, Ella Ottensman QUEENS UNIVERSITY OF CHARLOTTE Daniel Gossow WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY Katie Sung
COLLEGE OF WILLIAM AND MARY Peter Ballas, Julie Walters JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY Kristopher Galica UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND Jessica Mullin UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA Rachel Clark, Maryn Gerrity, Alicia Gomez, Mia Park, Matthew Wilson VIRGINIA TECH Louie Budike, Madison Picha, Mehul Tomar WASHINGTON AND LEE UNIVERSITY Joseph Allen, Luke Nagel, Jack Pugliese
UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE Addison Bucher
All content on this map reflects information volunteered to The Spoke by the Class of 2021. A total of 417 seniors responded to our request for senior destinations. 131 did not respond, and 6 seniors abstained.
BLOOMSBURG UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA Verna, Ashley Wenger BUCKNELL UNIVERSITY Nicholas Arbes, Cla BRYN MAWR COLLEGE Talia Derins CLARION UNIVERSITY Michael Ippoliti CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY Charles Will DELAWARE COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE DICKINSON COLLEGE Tyson Burling, Matthe Will Hayen DREXEL UNIVERSITY Andrew Fessick, Aman John Vadner DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY Emma Kushner EAST STROUDSBURG UNIVERSITY Jasmyn Po EASTERN UNIVERSITY Elijah Brown, Ella Chi FRANKLIN & MARSHALL COLLEGE Kate Clem GETTYSBURG COLLEGE Graham Blatchford, Andy Marquet, George Sophocles JUNIATA COLLEGE John DeFruscio KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY Ryan Georgescu LAFAYETTE COLLEGE Katie Martin, Matt Tho Kat Walton LA SALLE UNIVERSITY Lauren Watts LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE James King LEHIGH UNIVERSITY Grant Burns, Simone L Sellig, Sophia Serbu, Callum Shutack MILLERSVILLE UNIVERSITY Isabel Adams, So MUHLENBERG COLLEGE Aidan Niggeman PENNSYLVANIA COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY Eth PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY Wylder A Addison Bass, Will Brown, Bryn Burling Frey, Mikey Haden, Lily Henderson, Pa Ibarguen, Su Jinan, Caroline Klaiber, Sri Lamonica, Claudia LaTorraca, Yige Li, M
Designed by Reese Wang, Co-Editor-in-Chief Information compiled by the editorial board & staff reporters Anika Basu, Akshita Joshi, Omkar Katkade, Brooke Kennedy and Sally Murphy.
By the nu
7
Monday, June 7, 2021
northeast
ations 2021
IA Jack Tabata, Thomas
aire Jenkins
liams E Sweta Girase ew Doyle, Claire Hallman,
nda Foster, Nina Haracz,
ollock hiarello ment, Sophie Koziol , Brandon Caron, Ava Collin,
ompson, Ksenia Tymchenko,
Lawrie, Tommy Parisi, Lily
ophia Franciamone
than Tartaglio Adkison, Megan Alexander, gton, Jonah Enoch, Grace atrick Hoey, Logan i Kunapuli, Drew Morgan Lofland
connecticut FAIRFIELD UNIVERSITY Abigail Galrao, Sam Ponessa, Grace Sarian SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY Michael Costigan YALE UNIVERSITY David Y. Wang
massachusetts BOSTON COLLEGE Peter Auslander, Gavin Merschel, Charlie Miller, Charlie Sisian, Caroline Young BOSTON UNIVERSITY Kate Buck, Kevin Connell, Maddux Cook, Denis Corr, Kiera Curnyn, Camille Herzog, Kaitlyn Hill, Savanna Jacovini, Tiare Valenzuela, Andrew Wang EMERSON COLLEGE Belle Fortebuono GORDON COLLEGE Kristi DiRico MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Andrew Huang, Hyunjin Christina Lee, Maya Rebholz NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY Hayden DelCiello, Paul DiStefano, Aiden Gross, Saadhi Jakka, Ananya Kulkarni, Alex Meall, Abhishek Narang, Gabrielle Valencia, Olivia Wang, Kevin Xin, Matthias Zandi TUFTS UNIVERSITY Liam McKenna UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST Isabel Thornberg WHEATON COLLEGE Ally McKenrick WILLIAMS COLLEGE Claire Newhall WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE Sarah Durant
new hampshire UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE Ian Roessler
new york COLGATE UNIVERSITY Reid Ewasko, Ben Horner CORNELL UNIVERSITY Gloria Geng CLARKSON UNIVERSITY Paige Cutler FASHION INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Mia Angelucci ITHACA COLLEGE Maggie Clancy MARIST COLLEGE Evan Spillane NEW YORK UNIVERSITY Jack Mara, Lena Pothier, Evan Robinson, Soumya Shukla PACE UNIVERSITY Aolani Baldizon, Ryan Powell PRATTMWP COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN Alexina Hobbs ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Andrew Fox, Sammy Jenkins, Jack Nalitt, John Serafim STONY BROOK UNIVERSITY Nat Tsedey SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY Emma Choe, Kate Drennan, Oliver Loewengart, Dayna Mushlin, Ava Poeta, Bella Secchi THE NEW SCHOOL Violet Van Buckman VASSAR COLLEGE Emma Adams, Bradley Markind
pennsylvania PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY (cont.) Jason Look, Lilli Lucia, Griffin Malik, Daivik Manickmalar, Ava Matzinger, Dillon McGroarty, Halle Middleton, Conor Monaghan, Will Morrissette, Alison Noll, Christopher Quinn, Yash Ray, Akshata Shastry, Annika Shastry, David Simbo, Sam Schwartz, Ryan Sillhart, Shawn Torresson, Andrew Valentine, Liam Walker, Hayden Wells, Daniel Xu, Harry Zhao, Adan Zurek SAINT JOSEPH’S UNIVERSITY Kelly Barausky, Lorelei Keating SHIPPENSBURG UNIVERSITY Ryan Jones SUSQUEHANNA UNIVERSITY Greg Lahr, Mia Leighton TEMPLE UNIVERSITY Ishan Aggarwal, Madhu Anbarasan, Sophia Angelucci, Jason Barnaba, Olivia Bové, Nikki Cao, Anna Clifford, Ava Davies, Kelly DeFlavia, Dominic DiAddezio, Aidan Donadio, Deshaun Evans, Amna Faheem, Reese Henderson, Scott A. Hennessy, Zachary Jones, Ben Marshall, Trey Phillips, Vera Kramer Rodrigo, Spencer Schenkel, Michelle Showers, Angela Tacheva, Paige Ziegler UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA Ansh Goyal, Jennifer Guo, Andrew Kim, Andy Mei, Lucie Song, Eric Y. Zhao UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Patricia Bachstein, Abigail Balsan, Marissa Barrios, Madison Bernabeo, Juliana Brake, Lorenzo Caria, Sophia Chen, Keya Dixit, Ami Doshi, James Ford, Willow Freeman, Zach Hillman, Gordon Hu, Macormick Hunter, Michelle Jiang, Colin Kennedy, Hiya Kothari, Manoj Kuppusamy, Brendan Lang, George Li, Maddie Lundquist, Cindy Lu, Arianna Lucci, Kara Manoff, John Marsala, Connor Neilon, Ryann Nieberle, Michael Orsulak, Jerry Peng, Rohan Sama, Victoria Scutti, Mahima Shrivastava, Shreya Singh, Nick Sonn, Daksh Stanislaus, Sophia Thompson, David Wang, Emily Wang UNIVERSITY OF SCRANTON Libby Roeder URSINUS COLLEGE James Condi, Derek Spangler VILLANOVA UNIVERSITY Katie Chuss, Rylie Fryberger, Lizzie Harvey, Sarah Krapels, Sarah Rosato, Sydney Singh WEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY Tianna Ayres, Soraya Bahrami, Jay Baker, Brett Bassett, Emily Beirne, Youness Boucetta, Aidan Kase, Claire Shutack, Kait Stark, Zachary Stone, Isabel Torres, Cassie Zimmerman YORK COLLEGE Will Galasso
9.7% umbers:
are enrolled in an honors program
77%
have a major in mind
rhode island UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND Madison Ritzenthaler
vermont UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT Camille Howard, Henry Miller, Hanna Monteith
midatlantic delaware UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE Luke Brewington, Benjamin Brophy, Colin Costin, Isabella Emery, Nicole Feury, Justin Levin-Bugher, Alex Maneri, Fred Mucklow, Sofia Ries, Ryan Thompson, Alix Waldron-Brown, James Wynne
maryland LOYOLA UNIVERSITY Caroline Corr, Reagan Dolan UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND Ethan Cross, Aidan Haas, Carly Hynd, Tillie Neff, Jack Susanin, Ellie Williams, Evelyn Zhao, Ryan Zheng US NAVAL ACADEMY Joyce Fung, Megan Marengo
new jersey RUTGERS UNIVERSITY Aaron Weisberg STEVENS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Jack Liedtka THE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY Alex Zelikoff
washington D.C. AMERICAN UNIVERSITY Sasha Buraks, Diana Knezevich, Jessica Wall CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA Maggie Jameison GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Jenny Dai, Trevor French, Amy Georgescu, Grace Walton
42%
received financial aid
47%
received a merit-based scholarship
OPINION
Monday, June 7, 2021
Senior farewell: A few words of wisdom After four years of wonderful memories at Conestoga, our Spoke seniors are saying their final goodbyes. But before they go, here’s some final advice from them: Four years of high school goes by surprisingly fast. Try to make the best of it, and don’t take the opportunities you will have as a high school student for granted. But keep in mind that you don’t have to do everything and that balance is very important. In the end, nothing matters more than your health There may also be times when things aren’t going well, you make mistakes, or you feel lost. However, this is all part of growing up and finding yourself in high school. So keep your head up because everything will work out in the end. - Hyunjin Lee A lot of people will tell you that the four years you spend in high school will define a lot of who you are and in some
ways that’s true but it’s also the first time you get to learn about yourself. You might not be quite where you want to be at the moment, and that’s okay. Don’t get too caught up in all the milestones. As much as this is an important time, remember to keep trying new things! You never know where you’ll find your people. Even if you do mess up a couple times, the moments that will stick with you are the ones you spent singing in the car wash and dancing in your basement with your best friends not whether or not you did well on that one really hard test. At the end of the day, it’s about the little moments between the big milestones that count. - Ananya Kulkarni To quote something I heard four boys from Liverpool once say, “There’s nowhere you can be that isn’t where you’re meant to be.” Two years ago I didn’t even know this town existed and when I moved here, I initial-
ly felt pretty lost. Now looking back on my time at ‘Stoga and at Spoke, almost half of which was seemingly turned into a mind-numbing episode of Black Mirror, I realize it’s easy to feel out of place when you’re right in the middle of things. It’s important to realize that there’s truly a place for you wherever you are and everywhere you go, it just takes some time to find it. - Zakiyah Gaziuddin They say it goes by fast and it certainly does, so be sure to make the most of it. Try new things, meet new people, don’t judge others. Most importantly do what makes you feel good, there is no need to take 12 AP classes if you don’t want to. I wish I had learned the true value of close friendships before COVID hit. Invest in building close and intimate relationships that create more memories than you can dream of; you will look back on the fun you had with friends, not the nights screaming at that textbook. - Andrew Fessick
Don’t stress about college. Unless you intend on entering a professional field where a degree is necessary, it’s not worth your time (nor money). Use the next four years as a time to discover your interests and develop your skills. Focus on building relationships that will benefit you beyond your time at ‘Stoga. Even if you struggle, always remember- your time here is temporary. - Val Pucci The time we have is limited, but let’s not limit ourselves to the time we have. Be with those who make you care, be with those who make you think, be with those who make you smile. You may think you’ve got it all or nothing at all, but I urge you, never give up the hunt. There will be a day to top all others, there will be a love to match no other, there will be a life worth living. Go out, find it, and live it without regrets. - Trey Phillips Sophia Pan/The SPOKE
Unsigned: We need sex education
Leon Li/The SPOKE
From the Editor: In stuffed animals we trust
Sophia Pan
Co-Editor-in-Chief In a year that feels like an unending storm at sea, stuffed animals have been my life jacket. There is something about cute fabric toys with plush filling inside that comforts me like nothing else in this world can. Stuffed animals are like guardian angels, holding a lifetime of memories, warmth and love, and there is no shame in treasuring them the way they have treasured us. I never had siblings or pets, so I have always held on extra tightly to stuffed toys. When I was an infant, my parents got me an orange, bean-filled clownfish bigger than I was, a toy that I loved because it smelled like Mom. Now, that clownfish takes her seat at the throne atop my wardrobe, weak from years of love, her beans half-gone and her fabric mended with cloth patches of pastel polka dots that
my grandmother added. Even though I have since had to retire my oldest guardian angel out of fear of her literally falling apart in my arms, she continues to radiate comfort, watching over me from the corner of my room. Though my clownfish has retired, I continue to hold on to the heap of other stuffed animals I have amassed over the years. They remind me of precious memories from their origins and their travels. For instance, Schwimmweste, my stuffed elephant that transforms into a neck pillow, has memories of the trip to Europe when I named him after the German word for life vest, borrowed from the safety announcement on the plane ride there. Pickles, my fluffy brown puppy plush with a felt Villanova University shirt, reminds me of overnight summer camp, when she oversaw all the snack trades I did in my dorm hall. Dottie, the creatively-named dalmatian toy I bought from the IKEA furniture store, reminds me of a cruise my parents took me on years ago, where I dragged her with me everywhere on the ship. Those memories have become even more valuable over the past year, with pandemic restrictions that severely limited in-person social interac-
tions. Weathering the nosedive that my mental health has taken without those interactions would have been a thousand times more difficult without stuffed animals. As my friends stood at the CDC-recommended distance of 6 feet away, stuffed animals were there to provide hugs and support. In the year and a half that I spent cooped up in my bedroom fearing COVID-19, I have fallen asleep with a stuffed animal in my bed every night. For the holidays, my parents bought me a big, neon-pink whale at my request, and now I fall asleep with him in my arms. Although plush toys seem like just stuffed fabric and button eyes, they are imbued with a warmth that is incredibly valuable when the going gets tough. Everyone deserves to have that token of comfort, whether it’s a stuffed animal or a trinket or an old shirt from a treasured friend. But, for those of you who are like me and have walked the walk with stuffed animals in hand, give that fluffy friend an extra hug. Take no shame in needing comfort sometimes. Take no shame in loving your stuffed animals. They have loved you unconditionally all these years, and they will continue to love you far into the future.
Like most high schools, Conestoga’s mission is to “inspire a passion for learning, personal integrity, the pursuit of excellence, and social responsibility in each student.” Students take years of math, science, English, art, music and more to ensure they are well-rounded, properly informed members of society by the time they leave the security of the classroom. So why should sex education be any different? Mentioned at the middle school level and never discussed in the mandatory Health and Fitness course for freshmen, the T/E school district severely lacks sex education. Family life units in middle school offer only a basic overview of the male and female reproductive systems, entirely leaving out conversations geared towards the LGBTQ+ community, and by extension, any student who is not cisgender — someone whose gender identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth — and in a heteronormative relationship. Currently, Pennsylvania education standards do not require schools to have a sex education
curriculum. What’s worse, if a school decides to teach their students about topics pertaining to sex, sexuality and development, there is no requirement for the information taught to be medically accurate. Yes, you read that correctly: it is legal for schools to teach incorrect information regarding sex. Not teaching about sex does not result in some perfect utopia in which no teenagers have sex; the average person losing their virginity by 17 makes that blatantly clear. The effect of not having sex education is simple: kids will turn to other sources for information. Students that do not have access to medically accurate information from certified health educators will encounter misconceptions and rumors from the internet. Additionally, Pennsylvania’s guidelines state that teachers are only able to answer questions with information directly taken from their school’s curriculum. Because Conestoga classes do not discuss LGBTQ+ topics, students’ questions about such issues are left unanswered, forcing young, impressionable minds
to fill in the gaps with misconceptions. This leaves students who are not given the right information at the right time vulnerable to making catastrophic decisions that have the potential to negatively affect their and others’ physical, emotional and mental health. One of these life-changing decisions relates to sexual pressure and consent. If students are not taught about the word “no” and its different forms from a young age, sexual assault will continue to be a significant problem. When kids are trained on how to act in various scenarios relating to consent, it makes for better reactions in real life situations. Just as taking the bullets out of a gun is more effective than wearing a bulletproof vest, education is better than protection. Schools should be teaching about sexual pressure rather than letting their students suffer the consequences of what they never learned. In many high school classes, there are instances in which two methods of solving a problem are presented to students. Based on this information, students then choose what method best suits
their needs. In the context of sex education, this concept is even more vital. In a setting where students will receive information that will inform extremely personal and important decisions, sex educators should be giving students all the facts in an unbiased, scientific fashion, allowing students to maintain autonomy in this aspect of their lives. You always hear students complaining, “When am I going to actually use this information?” in math class, but at the high school level, sex education is a crucial topic to learn. When learning about aspects of identity, what contraceptive methods are available and how to have safe sex, the answer to the previous question is clear: you will use this information in your daily life. Schools should prepare students to leave the classroom as adults who can make responsible decisions given the right information. While keeping information from teens might work for a time, eventually, most teens will begin having sex and should not be the ones to suffer on account of an education system that failed them.
The Spoke Editorial Board voted unanimously 15-0 in favor of this editorial with one person abstaining.
Yuting Pu/The SPOKE
The Spoke is published seven times a year by School Paper Express. It consistently receives a Gold rating from PSPA and CSPA, and is a National Scholastic Press Association Pacemaker award-winning publication. The Spoke serves as a public forum for student expresssion
The
Staff
Editors-in-Chief: Katherine Lee, Sophia Pan, Reese Wang Managing Editors: Devon Rocke, Umar Samdani News Editor: Evan Lu T/E Life Editors: Aditi Dahagam, Hiba Samdani Opinion Editor: Aishi Debroy Sports Editors: Julia Harris, George Zhang Photography Editor: Maya Shah Multimedia Web Editor: Alexis Costas Beats Editor: Jui Bhatia Business Manager: Michael Tierney Webmasters: Nishka Avunoori, Shreya Vaidhyanathan Social Media Editor: Abby Carella
, Copy Editors: Kate Emmanuel, Ben Shapiro Cartoonists: Leon Li, Sophia Pan, Yuting Pu, Charity Xu, Katherine Zhang Staff Reporters: Abby Bagby, Anika Basu, Melissa Fan, Andrew Franceski, Omkar Katkade, Brooke Kennedy, Grace Kuryan, Sally Murphy, Chanelle Ongagna, Kate Phillips, Abbie Preston, Ben Reed, Tashikaa Senthilkumar, Becky Tang, Cosmo Thompson, Brooke Vallin, Mindy Wang, Ruijia Yang Faculty Advisers: Alison Ferriola, Cyndi Crothers-Hyatt, Claire Miller
Non-staff contributions: Non-staff contributions from students, the community, graduates or other interested parties are welcome. Editors will decide which contributions are publiched based on space and relevance to the community. All contributions must conform to journalistic practices, including accuracy, timeliness, purpose and writing conventions. The Spoke reserves the right to work with the contributor to meet these standards. All outside contributions are bylined.
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Letters to the editor: Letters to the editor may be submitted to Editors-in-Chief Katherine Lee, Sophia Pan and Reese Wang, or advisers Cyndi Crothers-Hyatt, Claire Miller and Allison Ferriola. Editorials: Unsigned editorials represent the views of The Spoke editorial board, not necessarily those of the administration, student body, community or advertisers. The opinions expressed in signed columns are those of the writer and not necessarily the opinion of The Spoke. Paid advertisements: The Spoke accepts paid advertisements. Email hello@spoke.news.
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OP/ED
Monday, June 7, 2021
9
In favor of the four-block schedule
Katherine Lee Co-Editor-in-Chief
When the school district first announced over the summer that we would be adopting the block scheduling method this school year, my initial reaction was one of concern. Classes for 81 minutes? Garnet and gray days? A 12-day cycle? As someone who is not the most receptive to change, it seemed like yet another pandemic-induced shift that we would ultimately come to hate. And yet, now that the district is planning to return to the traditional eight-period bell schedule next school year, I’ve realized that I’ve grown comfortable with the current block schedule and would actually prefer to keep it. The primary benefit of block scheduling is that there are only four classes a day as opposed to
eight. Even though each class period is indeed longer, it enables us to focus on four classes rather than trying to cram eight classes worth of information into our brains every day. While it’s true that the total number of school hours is essentially the same, having only four classes rather than all eight makes the day seem more manageable. Having each class meet every other day also gives us an extra day to do homework. Rather than assignments for every single class being due immediately the day after, there is instead another day to complete the assignment. Both my assignment book and myself have found this to be a blessing. In a normal year, by the second or third week of school, I have to get a bigger notebook because it’s physically impossible to fit all assignments for ev-
ery class into the school-issued assignment books. However, it is now already May, and I am still using my assignment book with no problems (I simply use two boxes for each class).
With block scheduling, teachers also have more time to explore subjects in greater depth. They have more time to give lec-
tures, incorporate independent working time or divide students into groups. According to the Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory, a program of The Education Alliance
at Brown University, both teachers and students have found that block scheduling allows them to engross themselves in the mate-
rial rather than moving rapidly through it. Now that I’ve grown used to these longer blocks of time, classes on Wednesday feel too short, even though that’s about how long they were in the traditional 8-period schedule. It makes me wonder how we were able to fit so much content into the 45 minutes in the past. Even from before the pandemic, technology has been increasingly incorporated into the classroom and curriculum. Now with a year of virtual learning, technology has been all but fully integrated. Still, despite developments, technology is not perfect: there Katherine Zhang/The SPOKE are glitches, and it doesn’t always work as well as we need it to. Having longer classes alleviates this problem. Longer classes make it so that technolog-
“An eight-period schedule is better because you get to see more people since you’re not in the same four classes a day. It’s hard to focus on one subject for an hour and a half. By now, we’ve gotten used to it, but at the beginning of the year it was very difficult. The hours would drag on and it’s really hard to stick to the same thing for so long.”
ical problems don’t take up the majority of the period, and once the glitch has been solved, there is still ample time left to complete the day’s lessons. One of the main reasons that students dislike block scheduling is because of the extended length of classes. Although it was challenging at first to get used to the 81-minute-long blocks, it has now become normal and no longer feels particularly problematic. Besides, longer classes also mean longer free periods, and I’ve therefore been able to use them far more productively this year. Also, for people who had free periods during the first block this year, they were able to wake up much later, although this benefit may only apply to seniors next school year. Because of the pandemic, the school has had to implement numerous changes to the way it usually functions: block scheduling, virtual club meetings, asynchronous Wednesdays, etc. As the school district continues to solidify its plans for the following school year, I hope that we can be open to maintaining some of the changes that have been effective for students and teachers alike this year.
freshman
- Lavanya Ahluwalia junior
sophomore
Umar Samdani
Co-Managing Editor As an AP student, I am struggling. The various sources of said struggle can be statistically represented by a pie chart. Fifteen percent stems from the mental exhaustion of attending virtual school for six hours. Another 20% can be attributed to the extensive commitment that is expected from these challenging courses outside of the classroom. The final 80% comes from taking notes from a monotone AP Daily teacher whose math is just as good as mine. Over the course of the past school year, the College Board has released instructional videos for 32 offered AP Courses. Logging on to the AP Central platform, students can access a plethora of videos that provide brief overviews of topics they learned in class. Like flossing, these videos are simply supplementation; teachers are encouraged to give personal-
A
- if you haven’t been heartbroken, it might be hard to relate to
Friends Reunion + the iconic crew is getting together for one last episode
C
- it was unscripted, which made it less interesting
B
D
- our favorite power couple is gone :(
Eurovision + exposed people to music of different cultures
B
- the rankings were surprising (not in a good way)
senior
they hide their talents by speaking directly off of slides that they have evidently never seen before. The instructors stumble over their words, pause to regather their thoughts and even give information that contradicts what the slide details. Because the College Board prides itself on transparency, it refuses to edit these bloopers out of the final product. For entertainment, viewers can enjoy teachers reading over slides twice and awkwardly waiting for their computer to load. The largest problem with the AP Daily videos is the explicit lack of enthusiasm these instructors convey. Their mannerisms make it painfully obvious that they don’t want to be teaching, and this attitude has a negative effect on the listener. As a student who already finds certain AP classes unnecessarily dry, seeing a teacher share a similar level of interest is off-putting. Yes, these videos are an improvement from previous years when the organization did nothing other than drop a test on our desks in May; however, this improvement is marginal. If the College Board truly wants to improve, it needs to start acting like an older brother, not Big Brother. The quality of the videos should take precedent, not the quantity. Katherine Zhang/The SPOKE Most importantly, it needs to It is evident within the first five recruit teachers who are truly pasminutes that these teachers are ex- sionate about the work they do. That perts at neither public speaking nor way, the AP exam can be a year-long effective delivery. Even if they were, experience and not a day-long test.
+ lyrical GENIUS, musical MASTERPIECE, trend-setter
+ if it wasn’t meant to be, we should support them
- Jennifer Guo
ized instruction and then assign a set of AP Daily videos for homework. Also like flossing, no sane student ever completes the task. The ten-minute quasi-crash course videos are impersonal, repetitive and simply painful to watch. Whether it be AP U.S. History, AP Physics or AP Spanish Language, the College Board guarantees that every teacher starts their videos with “Hello. My name is [insert name here] from [insert unrecognizable city here], and I’m excited to be here with you today.” Even without taking AP Psychology, the student knows that the teacher on the screen is not telling the truth or getting paid.
Olivia Rodrigo’s New Album
John Mulaney and Annamarie Tendler divorce
“I prefer the original 8-period schedule. With the longer classes, I had some difficulty focusing...The main problem I have with the current schedule is how the alternating garnet and gray days create gaps between classes. For electives that are only scheduled for a few days each cycle, there were some instances where I had an entire week without the class, making it difficult to remember where we left off.”
AP daily videos are terrible
- rainbow capitalism makes the ugliest merch
- why is it so hard to shop for dads?
Q: Do you prefer the current four-block or old eight-period schedule? “I prefer the 8 period schedule, specifically if we’re going back to in person next year because the day would be split up better and we won’t have to stay in a single class for an hour and a half - I think that would affect my attention span.”
+ a month of festivals and events celebrating LGBTQ+ history
+ a great opportunity to spend time with the father figure in your life
- Daniel Tu
STUDENTS SPEAK OUT
A+
Pride
Father’s Day
“I prefer the old eight-period schedule because the classes are way too long with the four-block schedule. This led to a lot of times this year where the classes became hard to stay engaged with and it seemed like the teachers were unsure what to do.”
- Malaika Hamid
Report Card
A thank you letter to teachers
Alexis Costas
Multimedia Web Editor Imagine having to talk to yourself in an empty room for almost seven hours every day, staring at a screen all the while. You ask questions to people who you know are supposed to be on the other side, but are met with silence half the time. When you get lucky and someone does respond to you, more often than not the voice comes not from a smiling face, but from two initials. Across the nation, this is how most teachers had to kick off the school year and yet somehow, there continue to be those who accuse them all of laziness, selfishness and poor performance in the hybrid classroom. Since September, there have been many changes to in-person learning in an effort to simulate normalcy, but now that the year has come to a close I think it’s pretty safe to say that the past two semesters have not been very fun or “normal” for anyone. Despite that fact, my teachers stayed positive and engaged the whole time. While I moped behind my laptop screen and half-slept through my morning classes, they smiled and strived to provide their students with the best
learning experiences possible, often admitting that things were less than ideal but that life had to go on. Still, ever since November I have seen dozens of people- often on social media- throwing every criticism they can think of at our district’s teachers, many of whom don’t even have kids in school and as a result, lack the full picture. I have seen teachers called lazy for teaching from home, selfish for being hesitant about teaching in person before they were able to get COVID-19 vaccines, and unqualified for suppos-
could have been executed better and various takes on what the “perfect” reopening and teaching plans would have been. While I agree that there are things our district could have done better- and the different perspectives are certainly interestingthe fact is, most of them are also inconsequential. If there are twenty pandemics after COVID-19 passes or if we never live through another one, there will never be a system or teacher that allows every student to feel personally understood and flawlessly accommodated.
Yuting Pu/The SPOKE
edly showing extreme bias to either virtual or in-person students. However, as someone who’s spoken with both teachers and students who felt lost this school year, it’s become clear to me that in most cases these accusations are entirely untrue. Since the rollout of the four-day hybrid model, I’ve heard plenty of conversations about how things
Even under normal circumstances, it is impossible to develop a teaching method that works for every pupil. People learn best in different ways, and even when something works for the vast majority, there will always be kids who feel demotivated, uninterested or left behind. Distance learning may have made that issue worse this year, but in no
way was that completely preventable, nor did “lazy” or “uncaring” teachers create it. That isn’t to say that teachers are infallible, or that students didn’t have bad experiences in individual classes. I do notice that sometimes teachers tend to pay more attention to either virtual or in-person students, but that’s only natural, and it has never been done to a point where I felt my education was suffering. It saddens me to see that there are still parents and community members making broad negative statements in search of someone to blame for the stress and disappointment this pandemic has brought so many people this past year. Adapting to social distancing and CDC guidelines hasn’t been easy for anyone, but teachers have had to make incredible adjustments to keep their classes running smoothly. Teachers with AP courses had to adjust their lesson plans to cover an entire college course while only having classes every other day thanks to block scheduling, while our own Spoke advisers had to oversee the production of an entire newspaper remotely almost every month. Science teachers had to replace and alter lab activities to accommodate hybrid learning, while middle and elementary school teachers often had to create new lessons completely to try and keep their online students engaged. My main point here isn’t that teachers are immune to criticism, no one is. It’s simply an effort to raise awareness for what this year has been like for them- and to thank them for doing their best.
Charity Xu/The SPOKE
Sports
Monday, June 7, 2021
10
Players look forward to playing in newly-created sand volleyball club Andrew Franceski Staff Reporter
The weather is warming, the birds are chirping and Conestoga has an exciting new club: The Sand Volleyball Club. The club is coached by Conestoga varsity volleyball coach Diana Felker and meets Wednesday and Thursday from 3-5 p.m. at Easttown Library to practice, and play. Since sand volleyball, which was a fun part of Felker’s childhood, is growing in popularity across the country, and was a fun part of her childhood which is why she Felker decided to seize the chance to start a club. “I grew up playing beach volleyball in California and have wanted to get something started here for a while. It’s a rapidly-growing NCCA sport, and it’s a lot of fun, and I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to start a club here. Ultimately, I would love for sand volleyball to become a club sport at Conestoga, and I hope this club encourages more schools to start similar programs.” Sand volleyball incorpo-
rates many of the skills found in normal volleyball with some new challenges. The court, for example, is outside and smaller at 26 feet by 52 feet, whereas an indoor court is 30 feet by 60 feet. Similarly, there are only two players on a sand volleyball court versus six in indoor volleyball, changing the strategy and the skills that must be employed on sand. Lastly, in a sand volleyball game, there are no substitute players allowed, making the games a test of endurance as well as skill. These new challenges made the club alluring to junior Sammy Goldman. “I’m excited to play outside, but there are some difficulties,” Goldman said. “It is harder to move on sand, and the area each player must cover is larger. I also have to factor in the weather on my hits, which is new, as I usually play inside.” Junior Ashlyn Kiley also looks forward to playing in the club and sharpening her skills. “I think (playing sand volleyball) will be really good practice for me and will especially help my communication skills,” Kiley said. “I also think it’s great practice in general. As there are only two people
on each side, I have to play all positions and stay alert: all valuable skills both indoors and outside.” The club also gives players a chance to see each other as the school year winds down, something very important to many, like sophomore Ashley Levine. “I’m really excited to play with old teammates and meet new people and just have fun while playing (the) sport we all love,” Levine said. “It will also be great practice for next year and should be a fun experience overall.” The excitement of playing with new and old teammates and the camaraderie the players share is a driving force in playing sand volleyball and will provide an exciting opportunity for all the players, including Goldman. “Playing with my friends, laughing, talking, making memories: that is what makes high school fun for me,” Goldman said. “To be able to do those things and play the sport I love is an amazing opportunity, and I can’t wait to play.”
Courtesy Ashley Levine
Fun in the sun: Members of the Sand Volleyball Club scrimmage against each other at Johnson Park on May 20. The members met and played volleyball every Wednesday and Thursday at Easttown Library.
Remembering his legacy: Football team refurbishes Paul Teamer’s tombstone Julia Harris
Co-Sports Editor The first principal of Conestoga and football coach of the Tredyffrin-Easttown School district, a World War I veteran, and the namesake of Teamer Field, Samuel Paul Teamer left a lasting legacy on the Tredyffrin-Easttown school district. Teamer was the coach for 19 years (from 1913 to 1931) and the principal for 26 years (1914 to 1940). Teamer field was created and dedicated to Samuel Paul Teamer in 1950, before Conestoga High School was even built. Teamer passed away in 1940, and over time the memory of him and his contributions to the school district have diminished among members of the Tredyffrin-Easttown community. His tombstone has also gradually leaned and been worn down after years of not being properly kept. The football team recently partnered with the Legacy Marker Program to fix this and celebrate the life of Teamer. On May 2, the team gathered at Malvern Baptist Cemetery, where Teamer’s tombstone lies. Junior Richard Diaz attended the event and expressed his appreciation. “This was a great experience to learn about and to help clean Paul Teamer’s tombstone with the football
“I thought it was terrific. It was a beautiful day and a great civic responsibility where our kids learned to give back. The players did a wonderful job of following COVID procedures and were very respectful,” Diamond said. “They walked away with a much bigger understanding of who Samuel Paul Teamer was and we had a great turnout of young men to be there. I know the Legacy Marker Program and the Paoli Battlefield Foundation were so appreciative.” Once the tombstone was neat and clean, the team members, coaches, and professionals held a flag ceremony to commemorate Teamer’s contributions to the community and the world as a war veteran. One of Teamer’s wishes was to be buried on the battlefield, and the site was in fact where a small battle of the Revolutionary War took place. The team spread ashes around to honor Teamer and his wish. “It fits so many of the things that are important to teach our players,” Diamond said. “You have a responsibility to give back to the community with a Julia Harris/The Spoke service project that helped Paying their respects: The football team stands with Head Coach Matt Diamond and members of the Legacy Marker Program in the graveyard of the First Baptist Church in Malvern. This photo was taken before they us honor a World War I began refurbishing Samuel Paul Teamer’s grave. veteran, and it honestly team, paying our respects to a Football Association Vincent olutionary War. The program base. Next, the team, with the Head football coach Matt helped us to learn more past coach for the team and a DiMartini was contacted by the had become aware of the state help of the professionals, re-grav- Diamond was proud of the reabout people from our veteran,” Diaz said. Legacy Marker Program, which of Teamer’s tombstone. eled and set the foundation. Fi- spectful way his players acted past that help make the The day came to be when restores headstones of the miliThe first step to refurbish the nally, they lifted the tombstone and how they each took a part tradition of Conestoga Vice President of the Conestoga tary from as far back as the Rev- tombstone was to re-dig out the head to clean and polish it. in the tombstone refurbishment. High School so excellent.”
Lacrosse prodigies: Six freshmen girls played on varsity lacrosse team
Courtesy Kiki Libezeit
Bringing down the ball: Freshman Kiki Liebezeit runs with the ball. Liebezeit has been playing defense and mid-field for girls’ team.
Ben Reed
Staff Reporter The future of Conestoga girls’ lacrosse is present as many younger players help to lead the team to success in the 2021 season. This year, six Conestoga fresh-
men made the girls’ varsity lacrosse team, the most the team has ever since last year’s record of four freshmen. The six freshmen are Natatlie Yarmark, Keating Hopkins, Chloe Brown, Emma Nikolic, Kiki Liebezeit and Alex Lepore. Yar-
mark explained what it has been like to make the jump from middle school to varsity high school lacrosse. “It’s definitely a lot different, a lot more competitive and eve ryone’s really good, but as long as it’s a really good challenge every single
girl on the team is always making me better every day,” Yarmark said. “I’m not going to be as good as one of the seniors but still practicing with them and playing with them is just going to make me a better player.” Coach Amy Orcutt also weighed in on how the younger players are performing and adapting to the high school level of play. “They’re all really tough kids, they love being pushed by upperclassmen and by coaches, and I think it’s really cool to see,” Orcutt said. “It is a different game coming from eighth grade and I think there was nerves in the beginning but we’ve been practicing together as a team for quite some time and they just get a little more confident as the season goes on.” Besides the increased difficulty in games and in practice, high school lacrosse has differed from the middle school play in other ways. Liebezeit explained how playing at the higher level affects the type of players she plays and competes with. “It’s way different, the pace of the play is so much faster.” Liebezeit said. “Everyone’s on the same level almost or higher because in middle school
not all people did it for outside club, most people just did it for fun with friends.” Liebezeit also explained that making the varsity team was a dream of hers. She described how exciting this season has been while giving examples of some of her favorite moments including exciting games and winning the Central League championship. “Our most exciting game
was against Penn Charter which was sadly a tie, but we worked so good as a unit, defense was really strong,” Liebezeit said. “Our game against Garnet was so exciting especially when Rachel scored in the last second.” Since freshmen rarely make varsity and there are such few on the team, it is very impressive for the girls that did make it. Yarmark
expressed what it meant to her to make the team. “It felt really good to make varsity, but also it’s just like a really big role and I’m really grateful to be on the team because of how much I’m learning every day from all the other girls on the team,” Yarmark said. “Like I said, there’s so many amazing players and every single day, just playing against them is making me better.”
Sports
Monday, June 7, 2021
11
The Process reignited: What made the 76ers so good George Zhang Co-Sports Editor
Courtesy Sophia Brubaker
Playing and competing: Junior Sophia Brubaker, a member of the varsity golf team, competes at a Philadelphia Tour tournament. Brubaker helped come up with the original idea of starting a girls’ team.
Juniors push for creation of new girls’ golf team Grace Kuryan Staff Reporter
This coming fall is the first time there is an opportunity to form a girls’ golf team at Conestoga. Juniors Sophia Brubaker and Suzie Ahn, who are on the varsity golf team this year, had the initial idea of creating a golf team just for girls. “I’ve been thinking about starting (a girls’ golf team) for a long time, but there haven’t been enough girls. Now that I’m a junior, there’s been a lot more interest and a few of us have been talking about starting one,” Brubaker said. The girls wanted to create this team so they could have their own space, with more independence and representation, to play and develop their skills. Right now, there are three teams within the co-ed golf team at Conestoga: developmental, junior varsity and varsity. If there were to be a girls’ golf team, the developmental and junior varsity teams would remain co-ed, while the varsity teams would split off into two different girls’ and boys’ teams.
According to Athletic Director Kevin Pechin, in order for the team to start in the fall, there must be a minimum of eight girls that try out in August. “We need consistent participation. If we say we have a girls’ team, we are going to be scheduled year after year, and I want to make sure we are able to do that,” Pechin said. Pechin and varsity co-ed golf coach John Jones are both supportive of starting a girls’ golf team. “I fully support the girls’ golf team,” Jones said. “I believe this could increase the number of girls playing competitive sports and I know there have been girls in the past who have been intimidated to try out for the sport because the team consisted mostly of boys.” Both Brubaker and Ahn believe that more girls may be inclined to join if the team was not co-ed. Many girls tend to feel intimidated by the thought of playing with boys. “I think co-ed — just the term — kind of makes people afraid. I definitely think girls would just feel more comfortable and at ease if they knew
Last year, on Aug. 23, Philly fans watched in despair as the Boston Celtics completed the sweep against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the NBA playoffs. The Sixers also had a disappointing regular season, finishing in the No. 6 seed with a measly record of 43-30. The combination of these events, along with the departure of Jimmy Butler and horrible team chemistry made fans wonder; is the Process over? The answer is a resounding no. The Sixers have come a long way since getting swept in the first round of the playoffs last year by the Boston Celtics. During the offseason, the Sixers made many changes such as replacing former head coach Brett Brown with Doc Rivers and acquiring good three-point shooters such as Seth Curry and Danny Green. Now, the Sixers were able to finish as the number one team in the Eastern Conference. The team had a hot start to the season, leading the Eastern Conference with a 7-1 record. This was where a potential MVP candidate emerged in Joel Embiid as he averaged 24.6 points per game, 11.8 rebounds per game, 3.3 assists per game, 1.8 blocks per game and 1.1 steals per game during this stretch. The Sixers then faced some obstacles with COVID-19 contact tracing which caused many of their key
players such as everyone in the starting lineup except for Green to be in quarantine. For example, the squad had to face off against the Denver Nuggets on Jan. 9 with a lineup of only seven players. The team had relatively smooth sailing after that all the way to the all star break, finishing at the first seed after a thrilling win against the Utah Jazz. This was when the biggest obstacle for the Sixers arose when Embiid injured his knee during the first game back from the break on March 12 and had to miss about three weeks. This hurt his chances a lot for being the MVP even though he is still a finalist. Although his chances at being the MVP were diminished, his return gave the team strength in finishing the season. The Sixers also have a finalist for the Defensive Player of the Year Award in Ben Simmons and an NBA All-Defensive Team candidate in Matisse Thybulle. The hiring of Rivers and Basketball President Daryl Morey was the catalyst for the success of the sixers. Rivers is one of the best coaches in the NBA, boasting a Coach of the Year Award in 2000 and winning a championship with the Celtics in 2008. Unlike Brown, he was also able to make the Embiid and Simmons duo work and reigniting Tobias Harris. Harris’ best years were under the leadership of Rivers while he was on the Clippers and now the Sixers as he’s averaging 19.5 points per game and shooting very efficiently at 54%. The Sixers also did a good job in hiring Morey as he made many good
decisions such as drafting rookie Tyrese Maxey, signing veteran center Dwight Howard and getting George Hill in a trade. Howard, Maxey and Hill have contributed a lot to the team off the bench, providing valuable minutes to the team. Although these additions benefited the team a lot, they aren’t the most valuable. The most valuable addition in my opinion are the two sharpshooters in Green and Curry that provide floor spacing by shooting three-pointers at a very efficient rate. Last year, the Sixers had little to no sharpshooters which was a big reason why they had such a disappointing season. All of this plus an easy schedule near the end of the regular season led the Sixers to secure the first seed heading into the playoffs. The Sixers have officially knocked out the Washington Wizards in the first round of the playoffs, beating them 4-1 and completing the gentleman’s sweep. They look forward to facing the Atlanta Hawks in the second round of the playoffs. In order to guarantee a win, the Sixers will need to have Embiid back as he suffered a light meniscus tear in game 3 against the Wizards. Simmons also needs to work on his free throws as he shot horribly during the first round. If these conditions are met, and everyone else plays well, then the Sixers have a good chance to beat the Hawks and hopefully make it to the finals. But for now, we just have to trust the process.
HIGHLIGHT REEL The
latest developments in sports.
Drafts The Eagles went into the 2021 NFL Draft with a couple of picks. One of the most notable was wide receiver Devonta Smith at number 10. Smith has garnered over 1,800 yards and 23 touchdowns, along with winning the Heisman award in college.
Fans Philadelphia 76ers President of Business Operations Chris Heck announced that the Sixers can expect fans at 100% capacity back at the Wells Fargo Center. Philly hopes to strengthen its homecourt advantage during the playoffs with fans at maximum capacity.
Serves The boys’ varsity tennis team was able to finish in third place at the state championships at Hershey Park. Senior Peter Auslander and sophomore Justin Xu were also able to finish second in the State Doubles Tournament.
Strides Eight runners on the track team made it to the state championships at Shippensburg University. This includes four girls on the 4x800 meter relay and four boys Ben Horner, Charlie Miller, Vicente Pena and Henry Miller.
it was going to be just a girls’ team,” Ahn said. The girls hope to play against other schools in the area that also have girls’ golf teams, such as Unionville, Great Valley, and Downingtown East and West High Schools. The idea of a girls’ golf team has been proposed before, but there has never been enough interest in participation. Now, more girls have expressed an interest, like sophomore Maggie Hawkins who currently plays on the junior varsity golf team. “I definitely am excited to join the girls’ golf team next year,” Hawkins said. Ahn and Brubaker have been working hard to make this idea a reality. Brubaker says they want a girls’ golf team not just for the sake of their senior year, but for other young girls coming into Conestoga to have the option of joining a girls’ golf team. “We really want to create an environment where girls are not hesitant to join, Ahn said. “We want this to be a place where it’s just positivity because it’s definitely a sport where things can get a little hectic.”
Btown Hoops: Alumni create recreational basketball league Michael Tierney Business Manager
Courtesy Collin Todd
Winners: Team 4 of B-Town Hoops stands together after playing an intense game of basketball. The team won its game and went on to win more later in the season. They plan to go on competing for fun against other high schoolers in the tournament.
Sunlight is running out over Tee Garden Park on a Monday night. Sweating from exhaustion, Team 3’s Collin Todd paces the ball up court and quickly dishes it to junior Aidan Carew in the corner wide open for three. Carew takes his time, lines up the shot and nails his fourth consecutive three-pointer of the night, giving Team 3 a narrow lead in their first Btown Hoops game. It’s all smiles from Team 3, and they quickly get back on defense against their classmates. Btown Hoops, a pick-up basketball league created by two ’Stoga alumni, is taking recreactional basketball to the next level this summer. The Btown Hoops Summer League was founded by alumni Connor Nichols and Chris McGovern. The league consists of two divisions: high school and college. Games are pick-up style and are played first to 21 points in a best-of-three series format. It costs $15 to join the league and games are Monday through Friday at Tee Garden and Friendship Park. Each team plays seven regular seasonal games, and then every team moves on to the playoffs. Captains draft teams, and the majority of the high
school division is made up of ’Stoga students. Nichols and McGovern started this league due to their love of rec basketball. “We were just hanging out one time and were talking about how we used to love playing rec basketball with our friends in the Tee Garden League, but that only goes up to high school. Also, playing regular pick-up ball would normally be fun for a game or two, but loses its competitiveness. So, we decided to start a pick-up league ourselves,” Nichols said. Nichols and McGovern spread the word of Btown Hoops, which immediately sparked interest. The league got off to a great start and received attention quickly throughout the Conestoga community within a few weeks. “We made an Instagram account, followed a bunch of kids that we knew would be interested in playing, and from there it pretty much took off. We started getting a bunch of people messaging us and trying to play, so it just grew from there,” McGovern said. Junior Collin Todd, a current player on Team 3 in the high school division, is having a great experience playing with Btown Hoops. His team is currently winning 2-1 (will update this as more games are played) and the in-
creasing competitiveness of the league has motivated him to strive to win, especially against fellow classmates. “The games have been really fun due to the intense competition level. There’s something about wanting to beat your classmates that really drives you to play hard. Most of my teams’ games have been close, so that also adds to the intensity of the games,” Todd said. Btown Hoops has increased bonding on Todd’s team and gives him and other ’Stoga students a way to have a great time in an environment balanced between competition and entertainment. The bestof-three series playing format and the absence of referees has played out perfectly for the league. It gives players a space to build strong relationships with their classmates and simultaneously improve their basketball skills together, which is exactly what Nichols and McGovern were aiming for in creating the league. “On my team, we are very talkative and energetic, so even when we are losing, we are having fun,” Todd said. “There have been so many cool moments so far, whether it was a cool pass or an insane shot, and I’m glad this league was made because it’s a great experience and a great time to spend with my classmates.”
SPORTS
The SPOKE Commitment Corner Page 10
Football team refurbishes Paul Teamer’s tombstone Page 10
Sand volleyball club created Page 10
Monday, June 7, 2021 Btown Hoops: Basketball league created by alumni Page 11
Courtesy Brittany Aimone
Runners-up: Varsity boys’ tennis poses for a team photo after winning second place at district finals. The team then went on to win third place at the state tournament, and the boys also won the sportsmanship award in their district.
Strong team chemistry leads varsity boys tennis to state semi-finals George Zhang
Co-Sports Editor Respect, kindness and humility. These varsity tennis coach Britt Aimone’s three core values, which led the team to its great success. Despite not having a season last year due to COVID-19, the boys varsity tennis team is now heading into states after winning second place at district finals. The district is a tournament system consisting of a 16-team bracket. This year, the team was able to move all the way to the district finals for the first time in Aimone’s tenure. Senior Leo Guillen believes that the strong team chemistry and the capabil-
ity to adapt to the unprecedented conditions caused by COVID-19 were big contributing factors to the team’s success. Guillen speculates that another factor for the team’s success was the ability of the captains to motivate the team. “I think (the captains) have really done a great job. I think Peter (Auslander) especially has done a good job of being the leader of the team and galvanizing us in our pre match chant. He’s always been a good leader and helped people get used to the team and get used to the bond we have with our teammates and I think that’s something the captains have emphasized this year and
have definitely succeeded on,” Guillen said. Sophomore Hemanth Kolluri also believes that the captains did a great job helping some of the sophomores and freshmen adapt to the team. “The captains are always there (for us). They could be playing a match halfway across the field on some court at the bottom of the hill and they’ll just make sure that the players are doing good. Everyone’s always supporting each other. There’s no talking if you’re finished your match, you’re always there for your teammates. It’s just a really good feeling,” Kolluri said. Senior and captain Peter Auslander believes that a captain’s responsibility is
to make sure that everyone feels welcome and respected in the team. Auslander also led the team’s tradition of a pre-match chant every time the boys played in order to boost morale. “I think, as a captain, you have the responsibility to reach out to every member of the team, whether they’re on a varsity spot or on a JV spot. Just really let them know that you’re glad to have him on the team, you think that they’re a valuable acquisition, and that it’s good to have them there,” Auslander said. Along with doing well at states, the team also won the sportsmanship award in its district. The award is given to the team that displays the
best sportsmanship, and the winner is chosen by a vote between the coaches. Aimone believes that the sportsmanship award shares many of the core values that she believes every athlete should have. “I believe that positive character development and consistent growth is so important for success in any sport and carried on in life. Achieving personal excellence as opposed to pursuing victories is a mindset I feel will give the best opportunity to succeed, on and off the court,” Aimone said. “I strive to create a culture where respect, kindness, humility and grace are values that are embodied by every player on the team, day in and day out.”
Profitable passion: Freshman runs online Fortnite gaming accounts Abby Bagby
Staff Reporter It’s everyone’s dream to turn their recreational hobby into a source for profit. For freshman Tony Xu, that dream became a reality with the online success of his Fortnite gameplay. Xu began playing Fortnite, his first video game, about three years ago on his Xbox gaming console before switching to a computer later on. His initial motivation was to make money off his gameplay by uploading highlight clips to various social media platforms. It took about one year for his accounts to gain traction, but at some points, he found it difficult to stay motivated and was ready to give up. “Whenever I didn’t feel like uploading gaming content, (I) got pretty close to (quitting the accounts), it was just hard getting your name out,” Xu said, regarding his initial struggle for success. “Getting good (at Fortnite) was part of (my success), and learning the social media algorithm.” Now, Xu averages about 4,000 views per video on his Instagram account (@killrxu), the first platform to which he began uploading. He also averages 1,000 views per video on his YouTube
channel (Devour Killerxu) and 1,000 on his TikTok account (@ killerxu). Across these three platforms, Xu has garnered about 61,200 followers. Xu’s content consists of what he calls “flashy gameplay,” involving short, fast clips from his games. Through a combination of YouTube advertising, the TikTok Creator Fund, and paid company promotions, Xu has made about $2,000 from his online content so far. He enjoys the sense of accomplishment that comes with the monetary benefits as the most rewarding part of his overall experience. “I put all that work into it, and it’s like, I’m getting something out of it,” Xu said. Freshman and friend Daniel Fan watches Xu’s content and finds his success to be quite remarkable. “It really is impressive because he’s not the only one who was trying to get big. There’s thousands of other people who want to be recognized. I don’t want to say he got lucky because he had a lot of drive. He had a lot of determination to be recognized and he worked really hard,” Fan said. “I am pretty impressed because I myself didn’t even expect him to become this popular.”
Courtesy Tony Xu
Gifted gamer: Freshman Tony Xu sets up his computer and three monitors for a gaming session. Xu has played Fortnite for about 3 years now. He looks to continue growing his accounts and having fun creating content.