Tiger Tales November 2012

STUDENT LIFE AT WOODBERRY FOREST SCHOOL • NOVEMBER 2012

Five Years in a Row

Tigers Earn Their Stripes

Everyone just calls it The Game — no explanation needed. That’s because the annual matchup between Woodberry Forest School and Episcopal High School has been played 112 times, making it the longest high school football rivalry in the South. The Game was at home this year, and thousands of fans flocked to campus: parents, alumni, even busloads of students from nearby girls’ schools!

Everyone was treated to an exciting contest in what has long been the biggest event of the fall. The Tigers prevailed, 44–14, and improved their overall record in the historic series to 56–48–8.

Since wrapping his black tie around his neck on opening Sunday, every new boy has been waiting for the day he can shed it in favor of the black-and-orange tie of Tigers everywhere. It happened during Parents’ Weekend in October, before the football game, when the cheerleaders gathered everyone on the gym steps.

New boys answered questions about the football players or sang a pop song for the parents and old boys looking on. And once the scissors did their work — new boys no more!

END OF BLACK TIES FOR NEW BOYS

TIGERS TAKE ON THE MAROON IN AN EPIC RIVALRY

Turn the page for more pictures from the Bonfire and The Game!

Watch your local team away from home!

FAST FACT

Boys who love to watch sports with friends have plenty of options at Woodberry. In addition to your favorite channels, our HD DirectTV subscription includes the NFL Sunday Ticket and the SportsPack: thirtyfive channels of regional college and professional sports networks and four international soccer networks, plus ESPN Classic Sports, the Outdoor Channel, TVG, and the Universal Sports Network.

WOODBERRY FOREST SCHOOL

TIGER TALES • NOVEMBER 2012 • 1

GETTING PSYCHED FOR THE GAME

Tigers win 44–14, Their 56th Victory in the Historic Match-up

The Bonfire

Fun Fact: The Game was a true team effort for Woodberry. To the delight of fans, the coaching staff designed plays that ensured every team member saw playing time!

TEACHER FEATURE

STUDENT SNAPSHOT

Greg Jacobs

Will Tucker ’13 Will came to Woodberry from Manakin-Sabot, Virginia. As Woodberry’s senior prefect, Will leads the student board that administers the honor system. He’s also a strong student, a talented athlete, and a skilled public speaker who recently addressed more than 200 guests at a fundraising celebration on campus.

How has Woodberry surprised you?

I came here expecting to be molded into a model of success — someone who never procrastinated, was the perfect Southern gentleman, and had all the tools he needed to succeed. Woodberry has certainly given me these tools. But it has given me so much more. It has, little by little, revealed who I really am — not just to others, but to myself.

What is your favorite class?

I’ve learned so much in the classroom, but I don’t have just one favorite subject. I’m interested in every topic, from Hamlet to kinematics, From Marbury v. Madison to number theory, from elasticity to current events in Costa Rica. My teachers are so enthusiastic about what they teach — their passion is contagious.

Greg Jacobs, who has been named one of Virginia’s best AP teachers, teaches physics to third formers and coaches Woodberry’s debate team.

Passionate about sports, he broadcasts many Tiger matches to fans who tune in online. He holds a BS from Haverford College and an MS from Northwestern University, is the president of the U.S. Association for Young Physicists Tournaments, and has written fourteen articles for the College Board website as well as three books. Mr. Jacobs and his wife, Shari, have a son, Milo.

The Game weekend goes beyond the match-up on the gridiron. At Friday night's bonfire, Woodberry boys stand in two lines as the flame is passed from torch to torch. With seniors leading the way, each boy tosses his torch into a bonfire that lights up the night. The crowd — students, families, and alumni — then gathers for the traditional pep rally, led by the cheerleaders. Speeches from Headmaster Dennis Campbell and Head Football Coach Clint Alexander, along with cheers by the boys, get our Tigers psyched for victory against our archrival!

Frankenstein

Honor Rules FOR THE STUDENTS BY THE STUDENTS

BRINGING THE CREATURE TO LIFE

Ever wonder how the monster felt about being created and then abandoned by Dr. Frankenstein? This year’s fall play, Frankenstein, which opened on Halloween, answered that question by going back to Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel that started it all. The director, Woodberry teacher Brent Cirves, wrote the play based on the book, and Technical Director Alicia Gerdy, with the help of a cast and a crew of twenty, detonated pyrotechnics to bring the creature to life on stage.

Many schools have honor systems, but none is quite like Woodberry’s. Back in 1899, our students decided that the school needed rules to govern life on campus. They proposed the honor system, which forbids lying, cheating, and stealing, as their “compact of trust” with the headmaster.

Today our students continue to administer the system, as they have from the beginning. Thanks to them, Woodberry Forest will always be recognized as a community where honor rules.

What do you do outside of the classroom?

I’ve played lacrosse and football since freshman year. I also got involved with the Fir Tree, the school yearbook. I started as a writer, but, before I knew it, I was promoted to copy editor, and I’m now editor-in-chief.

Spending time at the yearbook office gives me a chance to brainstorm, create, and hang out with a different group of guys.

STUDY TIP

Read out loud!

Before you hand in a written assignment, such as an essay, a paper, or a take-home exam, find a space where you have some privacy and read what you’ve written out loud. You’re more likely to “hear” errors you’ve made — and you can correct them before your work is due.

This tip comes from Woodberry’s Academic Development Center. Check out the ADC blog at wfsadc.wordpress.com!

2 • NOVEMBER 2012 • TIGER TALES

WOODBERRY FOREST SCHOOL

WOODBERRY FOREST SCHOOL

How do you make physics fun for students?

I don’t necessarily have to make physics fun, because the subject matter sells itself: We might discuss our prediction about what happens in an electric circuit, but then we set that circuit up right there, in class, to see whether our prediction is right or wrong.

Every topic we cover allows us to set up experiments in the classroom. The appeal of seeing, touching, feeling, and understanding what we’re studying cannot be underestimated.

You’ve taught at other schools — what makes Woodberry special?

Woodberry students are authentic and aren’t embarrassed to be who they are. I love seeing the genuine, supportive relationships, especially among classmates who are so different from one another.

Is there one feature in the new science building that you’re most excited about?

The collaborative spaces on the physics floor.

We asked for space where students could work together, talk to each other, relax with each other — and we got it. The best physics learning happens when people talk to each other about physics; the floor is set up to encourage those conversations.

TIGER TALES • NOVEMBER 2012 • 3

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throwback Woodberry vs. Episcopal, 1971

Woodberry Forest admits students of any race, color, sexual orientation, disability, and national or ethnic origin to all of the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sexual orientation, disability, or national or ethnic origin in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic or other school-administered programs.