The Index
The student voice... since 1888
Ευταξια Σωζειν Δοκει
September 2017
Volume LXXX, No. 1
Haverford, Pennsylvania
www.havindex.com
PHOTO BY TROY GIBBS-BROWN ’18
This summer, five Haverford students and a group of Agnes Irwin students travelled to Ecuador in partnership with Colegio Americano Guayaquil. The purpose of the trip was to expose the students to the unique Ecuadorian culture. The students, all enrolled in Spanish language courses at school, seized the chance to improve their Spanish speaking skills in a nativespeaking environment. Many students noted a transformation in their worldview, as they built friendships with the Ecuadorian students. Before they arrived, many students were unsure about the environment they would enter. Sixth Former T.J. Brooks said, “Honestly, I had no idea what to expect with both the hosting aspect and
visiting aspect. I think I expected it to go a lot worse than it did, especially because people kept telling me about the dangers of the country, such as crime, violence, and lethal diseases, rather than highlighting the positives of the country.” But the students’ concerns were shattered after exploring the country for a few days. “There was never a point throughout the entire trip where I felt unsafe or worried about anything bad happening to me,” said Brooks. “All of these worries were quickly put to rest after traveling around and exploring Guayaquil and Quito.” After overcoming these initial fears, Brooks transitioned to interacting with the Colegio Americano Guayaquil students. Conversing with
Schedule tweaks before change
his new Ecuadorian friends provided insight on the distinctions between American conversation and Ecuadorian conversation; he gradually learned to start conversations to learn more about the Ecuadorian people, not just to carry out simple tasks. “I learned how to be open and more relaxed when talking to the people of Ecuador,” said Brooks. “Rather than having a transactional conversation, I was able to have deep conversations with random people on the streets who happily told me stories from their lives rather than try and convince me to buy water, food, or some other trinket. In the U.S., we sometimes forget that not everything needs to come with a reward, but
that we can have conversation simply for the sake of learning about other people, and I hope I can continue to open up to other people as well as learn their stories.” While forming friendships with the Ecuadorian students, Fourth Former Yan Graf and Sixth Former Troy Gibbs-Brown noticed huge improvements in their Spanish. “Learning Spanish in a classroom is one thing,” said Graf, “But hearing how people actually used it and learning new words that you might not learn in class is fun.” Gibbs-Brown said, “My encounters with the Ecuadorian people were always lively. cont. pg. 9
Summer spotlight: lab research Eusha Hasan ’18
Nick Chimicles ’19 Every summer, the administration gathers within the deep labyrinths of Haverford, scheming for ways to better our school in the upcoming year. During such gatherings this summer, the faculty integrated a novel semester and examination schedule. Beginning this year, the lengths of the two semesters will be equal, with the first semester having been extended to late January. Exams will take place during the same periods during the school year (mid-December and late-May); however, the exam week, which previously consumed a total of seven days of school with two days of preparation and five of examination, has been condensed to only four days. This was accomplished by requiring the history and
language departments to only give exams in the winter, the science and English departments in the spring, and the math department during both exam seasons, meaning that a student not taking two courses within one discipline will have only three exams per exam season. “One of the takeaways that our consultant had when he came this past year was that our students do not have enough contact days with their teachers,” said Mr. Green. “Learning happens when students and teachers are together.” With the changes in the organization of exam weeks, the amount of “contact days” consumed by examinations has been halved, adding six full school days to the year. “We had to ask ourselves if the benefits of cumulative examinations are worth fourteen days of school,” said Mr. Green. “The history, science, English and language departments found they could condense those benefits into a single examination, while the math department felt quite strongly that building towards a cumulative exam at the end of each semester was important.” The weights of exams have also been adjusted from the static 20% of a student’s final semester grade to a dynamic weight that depends on a student’s course level and year. Standard freshman courses will now have an exam that weighs 1015% of a student’s grade, whereas that of a senior honors level math class will weigh 30% or greater. “The idea is to build towards a higher stakes exam, not unlike the ones you’ll see in college,” said Mr. Green. With every change, there are worries of unanticipated repercussions that could hurt the lives of students. For example, the balancing of the semesters could produce an extraordinarily stressful period after winter break before the end of the first semester. cont. pg. 9
Andrew D’Arcangelo ’19 reflects on SGLI experience pg.5
PUNAHOU SCHOOL
PHOTO BY BRIAN XIAO, COURTESY OF JAMES IVES ’18
Sixth Former James Ives conducted research this summer at the Russell Lab at Drexel University.
This summer, under the guidance of Biology teacher Mrs. Kara Cleffi, eight Honors Biology students interned at the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University. Over the course of several weeks, the students joined labs encompassing a number of disciplines, from genomics to cell microbiology to engineering. Working alongside renowned research doctors and undergraduate interns, they learned to apply their biology knowledge to the more intricate, impactful research handled by leading experts. At the beginning of the second semester, several Fifth Formers applied for the summer lab cooperative, which presented students the
Students played ping pong vs. locals on China trip pg. 6
opportunity to work in a lab of their choice; if none of the current lab opportunities piqued their interests, the chosen students could opt to scout for another lab with Mrs. Cleffi’s permission. None of the students had prior experience in lab research, so they entered their labs with some skepticism. Sixth Former Kyle Wagner, who studied gene therapy to treat diseases using vectors, said, “[I wondered if ] I would be working with many introverted scientists, who lacked interpersonal skills.” He soon realized that lab scientists, who must creatively formulate hypotheses, require effective communication and collaboration skills. cont. pg. 9
MS. TAYLOR SMITH-KAN