HOCKEY BEFORE COLLEGE
Senior Joe Abel to put off college for two years to focus on junior hockey
PAGE 11 ?
April 2016
EDUCATION OF THE NEAR FUTURE
EDITORIAL: THEOLOGY
How should the theology curriculum adapt to a changing world?
PAGE 2?
Alum Rafferty’s path to National Championship
PAGE 4 ?
Malvern’s curriculum is adapting quickly to project-based learning, but the transition has its challenges.
PAGE 6?
Student Newspaper of Malvern Preparatory School . 418 South Warren Avenue . Malvern, Pennsylvania 19355
COMMITTING TO CREW
The sport is “not for everyone,” but has many benefits for those who accept the challenge
PAGE 12?
VOLUME 16, NUMBER 6
Before the class of 2016 graduates, we learn from their experience - and from the perspective of a college counseling department that is changing with the times.
PAGE 8
Four Christian Service weekends ahead in 2016-17 Juniors will experience a college visit day, while other classes visit new service sites Tommy Pero ’17 FRIAR LIFE EDITOR ue to overcrowding at Urban Challenge and St. Augustine’s Church, as well as new college visit days for juniors, students will participate in four Christian Service weekends next year instead of three. Director of Christian Service Mr. Larry Legner cited increasing class sizes as the main reason for the change. “We had two juniors who could not go to Urban Challenge this year because I did not have a bed for them,” Legner said. At Urban Challenge, there are only 44 beds available each weekend. “With adding another weekend, I’m able to get the groups down to a size of 32 [students], which is far more manageable,” he said. “In case of emergency, we can accommodate.” Other changes will also follow for the weekend.
D
Juniors still have Urban Challenge and two local service days, in addition to a new college visit day. The college visit day will consist of two college counselors taking the group to two different colleges in one day, according to Legner. Each weekend will have two different schools for a total of eight. The objective is to see two different kinds of schools— such as big or small, urban or rural— in one day so that students can get a better idea of what kind of school they want and learn how to do a college visit, according to Director of College Counseling Mr. Ian Harkness. “I think the contrast will be important,” Harkess said. “To see Temple in the city and then come out to see Haverford— two different experiences all within a few miles of each other.” The list of colleges students will visit is not finalized, but they will all be close enough to return to Malvern by the end of a normal school day. The Counseling Department plans to reach out to admission officers at each school to get a personalized visit that will help students learn more about each school and about the college process. “It’s more about the overall experience of ‘did that feel right, or not?’” Harkness said. “Bring that experience to talk with your college counselors when those individual meetings start to happen.” > PAGE 5
Middle School changes academic format Changes to the academic calendar and the leadership structure are ahead for the middle school next year. Joe Lister ’21 MIDDLE SCHOOL REPORTER The Middle School will be moving to a trimester academic calendar and adding grade level deans for 2016-17, according to Middle School Head Mr. Patrick Sillup. Sillup said that the quarter model that Malvern has used for several decades had a “cramming effect” on students. “I think the trimesters will give us an appropriate amount of time to do certain things,” he said. By adopting the trimester system students will have a “longer runway” for evaluation, according to Sillup. However, middle schoolers will be losing classes due to the new format. One of their “carousel classes,” classes that switch every quarter, will be taken away. Sixth graders will no longer have Study Skills class, and the seventh and eighth graders will no longer take Design Thinking and Chapel Reflection respectively. However, > PAGE 7