April 2017 | The Evergreen, Greenhill School

april 19, 2017 volume 52, issue 5

the Everything Greenhill

evergreengreenhill.org

Trevor Worcester to serve as Interim Head of Upper School for 2017-18

Photos by Simra Abedi

Ben Schachter Executive Editor

In his senior year at Bowdoin College, Upper School Modern and Classical Languages Chair Trevor Worcester was preparing for life as a stand-up comedian. He had his act down and he’d already performed a handful of times at open mics, but in order to support himself before achieving success as a comic, he needed a day job. So he accepted a position as a Latin teacher at Cardigan Mountain School in New Hampshire.

“Teaching Latin was a secondary thing. I truly thought I was going to be a stand-up comedian. I thought I could [teach] during the week, and then go into Boston and do my comic thing, and that that will be my job,” said Mr. Worcester. “It never happened because I fell in love with teaching.”

Twenty-three years after the start of his short-lived stand-up comedy career, Mr. Worcester is poised to take over as Interim Head of Upper School for the 2017-2018 school year. This new assignment follows the departure of Head of Upper School Laura Ross as she heads to HarvardWestlake School in Los Angeles.

However, 19 years ago, Mr. Worcester was reluctant to even come to Dallas to interview for the position as a

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How to save the Earth p. 4

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Latin teacher.

“Being from New England, I was sort of like, ‘Dallas, really?’ I pushed it off because I really wanted to stay in New England with the rest of my family,” said Mr. Worcester. “Eventually, I got a voicemail from [Assistant Head of School Tom Perryman] 19 years ago that said, ‘Trevor, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and if you just give us a chance and come on down, I’m sure we can work something out.’ I was sort of like, ‘What have I got to lose?’”

Mr. Worcester asserts that his New England upbringing (he was born and raised in Maine) remains with him through his teaching style and decision-making process—not to mention the Celtics, Red Sox and Patriots gear adorning the walls of his cubicle.

“New Englanders are known to be pretty practical, and I think that comes through in me. I’m not one to make changes simply for change sake. I want to know what’s the purpose of something, what’s the rationale behind something, what’s the research behind it and then let’s do it. This is not to say it takes me months or years to make a decision, but I want to hear both sides of the story before doing something,” he said.

The Evergreen breaks down school choice p. 5

Serving Greenhill since 1966

cont’d on page 9

Feat.

Sexism is a problem in debate, female debaters say p.7

“

I truly thought I was going to be a stand-up comedian. It never happened because I fell in love with teaching.”

Arts

Sports

Visual Arts teacher fea- Culture shift in baseball tured on front page of leads to success p. 16 Dallas Observer p. 14

4141 Spring Valley Road, Addison, TX 75001

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Rants & Raves

the

Evergreen staff editor-in-chief Zayna Syed

executive editors

A RANT to the careless use of printers across the Upper School. Contrary to popular belief, printing your research paper multiple times will not raise your grade. As a wise woman once said, “the trees are crying.” Do your part to put a stop to the senseless carnage!

A RAVE to the teachers who keep food in their offices. SAGE is great, but sometimes we just have the munchies, ya know? Mr. Lowen’s lower food drawer at one point was the only form of sustenance, but now thanks to Greenhill’s generous faculty, we can thrive and live a vivacious life on a full stomach.

A RANT to the two weeks before spring break. You’ve finally turned in your final exam, and you can’t wait to breathe in a fresh spring whiff of freedom. But surprise! You’ve got trimester three next week, with new materials and an upcoming test before you finally arrive at the break you thought you deserved earlier.

Ellen Margaret Andrews Ben Schachter

managing editor

Joseph Weinberg

copy editor

Simra Abedi

design editors Areeba Amer Arhum Khan

arts editor

Alice Zhang

backpage editors Sophie Bernstein Maya Ghosh

features editor

Radhe Melwani

news editor

A RANT to parents letting kids out in the middle of carpool lanes. Greenhill has a lot of redundant rules. Carpool traffic rules are not silly, so STOP telling your parents to let you out in the middle of traffic in the carpool lanes. Literally just wait all of two minutes for your parents to pull their car up to the right place.

A RAVE to the huge number of senior projects happening this spring! Starting May 1, approximately 50 students will exchange their regular classes for a careerspecific internship. One month is just enough time to get a taste of the “real world” before abandoning that scary idea for college!

A RANT to chairs being taken and moved in the History and English pods. After a long hard day of no classes, it’s nice to go finish that group project in the pods. Like we get that you have friends and signifcant others, but should your canoodling have priority over my learning?? Nahhhhhh.

Abbas Hasan

sports editors

Lili Stern Jordan Sternblitz

views editor

Annika Squires

asst. arts editor Samar Ahmad

asst. views editor Ross Rubin

staff manager Josh Rudner

online managing editor Areeba Amer

A RAVE to restocked tampons! In ancient times, a few months ago, not enough bathrooms were stocked with tampons, and the struggle was real. But do not despair!

We spoke, and we refused to be silenced.

There are now tampons! YASSS QUEEN!!!

A RAVE to the interfaith panel at our A RANT to backpacks taking up seats. recent F-day! Not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 Our backpacks go through a lot, but amazing religious representatives sat and no matter how much you cherish your spoke to the entire high school to teach us slowly-decaying sack of cloth, it does about their different faiths. A huge thank not deserve a place on anywhere but the you to all the folks who took time out of floor. Because, you know, actual people their busy schedules to enlighten us on like to sit on the chairs and couches different religions! you’ve deemed as glorified backpack thrones.

Content courtesy of Allie Frymire, Julia Halm and Richa Sinkre Photos courtesey of Sudeep Bharghava

Staff Editorial: Teachers Should Have Deadlines Students have deadlines, never see their graded work. values and discourages students work (we all deserve extensions

and teachers should have them too.

It is an undisputed fact that Greenhill students work hard, with a zeal unmatched by most of our peers. We put in hours of work to perfect papers, understand difficult concepts and translate our desire to learn into a finished product. Once we put in the effort, nothing is more demoralizing than making a mistake on an assessment once, let alone twice.

According to senior Maddie Kingan, “I feel like sometimes it negatively affects my academics when I get my work returned late. It makes studying for quizzes harder.”

This problem can affect students throughout their high school career: papers may not be returned in a timely manner and sometimes students may

A rule mandating the return of classwork needs to be implemented in order to break the cycle of burdened teachers and stressed students. Students cannot learn from their mistakes if they don’t know what their mistakes are in the first place.

According to Dean of Students Jack Oros, “The only guideline is that teachers need to give back material before an exam.” However, only a small percentage of trimester grades are based on exam grades, whereas the bulk of our averages are determined by the many papers, quizzes and tests we complete throughout the trimester. Furthermore, returning work just before a winter exam or final exam devalues all of the other work students put in; this is antithetical to Greenhill’s

from truly learning from their mistakes.

This system not only hurts students, but the teachers themselves. After an extended period of time, papers, tests and quizzes begin to stack up and teachers may find themselves overwhelmed by the amount of work in front of them. We understand that teachers are busy people, balancing their lives inside and outside of school.

According to History Department Chair Dr. Amy Bresie, “I think two weeks to return material is a good policy, but sometimes there are situations when that can’t be met, and it is not at the fault of the teacher.”

We understand that sometimes there are extenuating circumstances that inhibit a teachers’ ability to finish their

sometimes). We understand that sometimes it takes a long time to produce quality constructive criticism, but when we receive these constructive comments, it often is too late, and multiple assignments may have been turned in since then.

In order to fix this broken cycle, teachers should be required to hand back material within two weeks. This provides an adequate amount of time for teachers to grade and write comments, and allows students to reap the benefits of their teachers’ critiques.

We are not asking for anything unrealistic or unattainable; we are simply asking to get our work back in a timely manner so that we can grow as students and academics.

online assistant editor Mira Jungerman

online broadcast editor Christian Quintero

staff writers

Samar Ahmad Suman Chebrolu Stephen Crotty

business manager Rishi Vas

advisor

Nureen Patel

asst. advisor

Dr. Amy Bresie

staff photographers Simra Abedi Zeenya Meherally

staff artists

Shreya Agarwala Grace Doyle Drake Heptig Amy Yang

Have a response?

Opinion?

Original Idea?

Email us at: evergreen@greenhill.org For the editorial policy visit our website at evergreengreenhill.org

wednesday, april 19, 2017

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Student Tips on Being Green In honor of Earth Day, Greenhill students suggest ways to protect the Earth and reduce our carbon footprint Reuse your water

Reduce bottled water usage

Instead of keeping your sprinklers on, get a rain barrel to collect water and use that to water your grass at home.

-Brooke Bulmash, senior

Every year, nearly 30 billion water bottles are sold worldwide. Yet merely one-fifth of them get found in a recycling bin. By either reducing bottled water usage and/or recycling used bottles, we can help the world become a better place!

-Varun Gande, freshman Stop eating meat (or at least eat less)

Share Rides

Agri-farming produces more greenhouse gasses than all transportation combined.

Carpool!! Keep the air clean! #earth #day

-Mia Hirsch, senior

-Erin McGuire, junior

Recycle Rethink your energy sources We should ban fracking and get solar panels!

Try not to use styrofoam because it cannot be broken down and it just fills a landfill!

-Alisha Nathani, sophomore

-Jacob Shepherd, sophomore

graphic by Drake Heptig

Junior Sarah Nuñez Lafontaine discusses dress codes

Dear Editor,

I was thinking about dress code recently. I was talking to a friend from The Hockaday School after school one day. She was in her traditional green skirt and white and green shoes, and I was in a 1950’s style dress with bright red cherries on it and a pair of Doc Martins. I kind of laughed at how different we looked, at how different our mornings must have been. I got up and chose that dress, chose the boots and the sweater, and it made me look the way I wanted to look. She got up and put on the same thing she wore yesterday. I know some love the uniforms. They say it saves them time, say it makes them feel a part of something, but I would never trade the freedom of the cherry dress, or my knee socks or my yellow heels, for anything. I think Greenhill is the only school that I know that lets us wear pretty much anything, that doesn’t make the mistake of believing that the length of a skirt affects a member of the opposite sex so much.

Greenhill is the only school I know that doesn’t reprimand us for selfexpression.

I love this. If you see me on campus, you can tell that I wear whatever I want, because fashion is an inherent part of my life. I wear what I want, and not what someone else tells me. Here is where I think we fall into a trap. I see a lot of people. Here I am going to talk specifically about women because I know this best, who seem to believe that dressing in a sexy or provocative way is the best way to stick it to the man, the best way to crush the patriarchy and show that men have no control of

us. I think it is great, the meaning behind it. Dressing for a man should never be the end goal. In fact, dressing for anyone should never be the aspiration. I personally believe that by dressing a certain way, a girl is doing the job of society herself and turning herself into a sex object. And I have no idea why. There is a sudden culture of Forever 21 and Urban Outfitters in which women are being taught that to fit into this world, that to be sexy or pretty, you must dress like this. I see dresses at Forever 21 that look more like shirts, or a new Urban Outfitters dress that has so many slits it looks like someone took a machete to it. They are part of the problem. They are stores that ride the train of objectification and over sexualizing and charge us 80 dollars for it.

Now I am not saying that Greenhill needs to enforce a dress code, in fact I would probably be the first one out there protesting if they tried to.

But I am saying that as a community we need to understand that there is a very subtle difference between selfexpression and confidence and dressing for yourself, and playing into the expectations of society. The latter is what we should really be protesting.

I think at the end of the day, we should take a break from shouting at schools that ban leggings, and start protesting the stores that tell girls that to be pretty, or sexy, or to have a boyfriend, you have to fit into this dress and you have to dress like this and you have to still be confident while rocking that crop top or that dress that hides all your so called ‘problem areas.’

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wednesday, april 19, 2017

Semesters or trimesters?

Upper School administration considers a switch to a semester-based schedule following Middle School’s transition from a trimester system to a semester system. Greenhill students weigh in.

Vs.

Graphic by Drake Heptig

I am pro-semester. It’s a little more work before the holiday break, but everyone always forgets everything from first trimester for the exams. So if we had the exam at the end of the first semester/before the break, then we wouldn’t have to be responsible for that material if the second semester exam is only over second semester. I googled it, and over 70 percent of colleges use semesters, so if we’re a college prep school (even though some colleges are on trimesters, to go with the majority) it makes more sense to be on semesters.

-Michelle Malenfant, sophomore

Trimesters are good because everything else is already split up by trimester. Then, all of a sudden, BAM, your whole schedule is messed up because academics are on semesters. What will you do when second trimester sports end, but you have 18,000 more weeks of second trimester electives? Houses are burning, children are crying, Jupiter explodes in the distance. It’s chaos.

-Amina Jenkins, 8th grade

I definitely enjoy the semester format for the school year more compared to the trimester format because I feel like with the semesters, we have more time to make up for any missed homework assignments and bad grades on tests and quizzes.

Trimesters are more efficient than semesters. First of all with scheduling, trimesters are better for academics because we already have trimesters for fine arts and electives as well as sports. Making both a different thing is very confusing and messes up some people’s schedules. Plus, people say that you get fewer grades, which is true, but you also get them thrown at you so fast. Since semesters for academics contrast trimesters for electives, in the middle of a semester, you will get fine arts grades and sports comments randomly thrown at you. And who wants to live in the constant fear of comments from teachers and coaches? Trimesters in general are better because it doesn’t give you that extra time to make grades drop. People say that extra time in a semester gives you an “opportunity” to bring your grade up, but do you know how much time, effort and perfect scores it takes to bring your grade up even a few points? There’s not enough of it in the extra time from a semester. And that extra time can go both ways- up or down. But, even in the natural order of things, it is easier to go down than up. I truly believe that trimesters are better than semesters.

-Shreya Saxena, 8th grade

-Raag Venkat, 8th grade

I honestly like the semesters better because we have more chances and time to raise our grade.

-Carla

Caballero, 7th grade

I like semesters because they allow me to pick up my grade if I have a bad test grade or quiz grade. The only negative to semesters is that we can only join two clubs in the Middle School per year.

-Pranav Mukund, 7th grade

I am pro semesters because they are longer, so it gives you more time to make up if you got a bad grade.

-Claudia Hurst, 7th grade

High school is about finding our passions. Trimesters enable us to take more classes and therefore make it easier for us to try new things. Yes this does come at the price of less in-depth electives, however that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In our search for what we like, we will inevitably find ourselves in a class we don’t care for.

With a semester system we would have to spend an additional month and a half watching our GPAs drop because we weren’t interested enough to find the motivation to do anything but daydream and play screen snake in class. On the other hand, a trimester system keeps us from getting bogged down in classes we aren’t interested in while allowing those of us who already know our interests to explore the basics of various facets those interests. Ultimately, the heartless, cut and dry purpose of our time at Greenhill is to climb the stairs to the stage at the Myerson without tripping and receive our diploma with some idea of what we are going to do next. This is why we have the trimester system: to maximize the chance that this will be the case.

-Noah Richmond, senior

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A breakdown of DeVos’ education policies Will school choice affect Greenhill?

Joseph Weinberg Managing Editor

After a contentious confirmation process, the United States Senate confirmed Betsy DeVos as the eleventh Secretary of Education on Feb. 7, 2017.

While Ms. DeVos received praise from former Republican presidential candidates Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney, two Republican senators refused to confirm her. This was due in large part to grassroots activists who took issue with her ties to school choice and school voucher programs. In addition, she has drawn criticism from teachers unions and other members of the education community who see her as a threat to the future of public schools in America.

The Evergreen decided to break down how, if at all, Ms. DeVos’ most controversial policies might affect the Greenhill community.

School choice proponents push for state governments to give parents financial credits that they could use to pay for the school of their choice. These financial credits would come in the form of education savings accounts, tax-credit scholarships or coupon-like “vouchers,” all of which would be funded by education tax dollars. Taxpayer money would be funneled away from public education to fund these credits, which has left critics of the policy worried about the negative effects school choice might have on America’s public education system.

DeVos and other supporters of school choice are driven by the principle that “a zip code should not determine a child’s future.” The movement aims to prevent children in low-income areas from having to attend failing public schools by giving them access to a secondary school education.

The Department of Education, led

by Ms. DeVos, has little control over

NEW TO THE JOB: Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos (above) speaks after she was confirmed in the historic tie-breaking vote by Vice President Michael Pence. Betsy DeVos and President Donald Trump (right) pose with students at the Saint Andrew Catholic School in Orlando, Florida.

implementing policy. Those decisions, including possibilities of creating school choice programs, are primarily left for state governments to decide.

There is uncertainty as to how private schools like Greenhill would be affected by school choice.

“

I’ve read that a typical voucher might be anywhere from $3,000$7,000, so for a $30,000 education, a voucher won’t make much of a difference [at Greenhill].”

“We haven’t really talked about this yet in our office because it hasn’t happened,” said Director of Admission Sarah Markhovsky.

“We don’t even know if vouchers, tax credits or school choice or whatever it’s going to even be is going to pass, so there’s not much we can do right now .”

Any financial credits implemented by the government would most likely have a negligible effect on Greenhill.

“I’ve read that a typical voucher might

be anywhere from $3,000-$7,000, so for a $30,000 education, a voucher won’t make much of a difference [at Greenhill],” Ms. Markhovsky said. “We only do need-based financial aid, and because we will meet any student’s needs, meeting their need would likely exceed what a voucher would cover.”

Vouchers would most realistically be used at schools that are less expensive and competitive than Greenhill. According to Ms. Markhovsky, it is unlikely that Greenhill would open up more admission spots to people with vouchers.

This raises another concern of critics of school choice: the number of private schools where vouchers could feasibly be redeemed. For example, there are few public schools where school choice might be especially appealing. New private schools would have to be created, or families would have to travel long distances for the taxpayer money and vouchers to actually be put to use.

The fight over school choice legislation has already begun to take place in the Texas state government. In Austin, Texas legislators

Photos by White House

recently voted on Senate Bill 3, a pro-school choice bill that would create two programs subsidizing school tuition. Eight Senate Republicans sponsor the bill, including Dallas’ own Don Huffines, who made headlines recently when he engaged in a shoutingmatch with students at Richardson High School while discussing school choice.

The bill (SB3) passed in the Texas State Senate recently by a margin a 18-13. However, a week later, the bill died as the House voted 103-44 to prevent the creation of these programs that would give families money to help pay for private school tuition.

Greenhill increases tuition by 4.5 percent Samar Ahmad Asst. Arts Editor

As part of a routine audit, Greenhill has increased its cost of tuition for the 2017-18 school year by 4.5 percent. Families will now pay anywhere from 24,800 dollars to 30,750 dollars to attend.

This change, however, is not unique to the upcoming school year. Last year, tuition increased by 4 percent, and it increased by 4.5 percent for the 2014-15 school year. According to Head of School Scott Griggs, increasing tuition is a necessity for Greenhill’s financial model. Tuition provides roughly 90 percent of revenue and about 75 percent of the school’s expenses go towards faculty salaries and benefits. In order to provide raises for faculty and staff members, and improve academic programs, tuition must increase.

“We’re in the middle of a financial sustainability project right now where we hope to find some efficiencies while still providing the same quality product. But,

in order to make our financial model work, if we increase faculty salaries, we have to increase tuition,” Mr. Griggs said.

Greenhill has hired an outside firm, Measuring Success, to evaluate and guide the school in regards to financial sustainability. Like many other independent schools and colleges, the school is looking at ways in which it can be more efficient and hopefully slow the rate of tuition increase, said Mr. Griggs. With subcommittees looking at net tuition revenue, non-tuition revenue, teaching and learning, personnel, and purchase goods and services, Greenhill is looking towards change that will be implemented anywhere from over the summer to the 2018-19 school year. The results will be finalized in May. Like any change, the increase in tuition will provoke a response. Mr. Griggs acknowledges the existence and effects of sticker shock, where families that originally take an interest in Greenhill are unsettled by its cost, but stresses that Greenhill compares to other

private schools in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

Although a 30,000 dollar education may seem daunting for many families, Mr. Griggs said that Greenhill’s financial aid program is unmatched. Greenhill is committed to meeting 100 percent of demonstrated need, which is the amount of money Greenhill calculates that a family need according to specific formulas.

“

The school supports what it means to be a full Greenhill student.”

Additionally, the financial aid program has a “middle income allowance,” which boosts the grant for families that fall within a certain income range, which depends upon the number of children in tuition-paying schools. This is done recognizing that there’s always extra costs affiliated with coming to a school besides tuition.

Mr. Griggs considers the most distinguishing factor of Greenhill’s financial aid program to be the “support budget.” For families who qualify for financial aid, a determination is made as to whether they’re eligible for 100 percent support, 50 percent support or no support.

Support helps to pay for any and all activities needed for a student to be able to participate wholly in what it means to be a Greenhill student. This includes everything from debate trips to athletic gear to prom dresses, and these items are generally for Upper School students.

Still, an annual increase in tuition will have implications for families on financial aid. Mr. Griggs acknowledges this as his main concern in terms of financial stability.

“We increase our financial aid budget every year, at least as much as the tuition increases. We do our best do make it known to prospective families that we have a very strong financial aid program,” Mr. Griggs said.

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wednesday, april 19, 2017 Evergreen Upper School sees increase in service-based classes

Lili Stern

Sports Editor

The Upper School curriculum has seen a recent surge in servicebased classes. Currently, these classes are all junior and senior elective courses in the History, English and Modern and Classical Languages departments. However, due to the popularity of the servicebased courses and the efforts of Community Service Director Sally Rosenberg, options for such courses are likely to expand.

Literature of Human Rights in the US, Poetry of Social Justice, Blended Nations, Service Learning in Spanish and Senior Seminar are the courses in the Upper School currently incorporating service-based education into their curriculum. The teachers of these classes ask their students to volunteer for an organization that they believe supports an important cause. Students in these classes have volunteered with organizations such as The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, Habitat for Humanity and Bush Elementary.

History Department Chair Dr. Amy Bresie chose to focus this year’s senior seminar on agents of change. The basis of this seniorsonly class changes each year, and seniors have to apply and be admitted to participate in the class.

Though Senior Seminar doesn’t always have a service component, Dr. Bresie felt service was essential to understanding how to be a

successful agent of change.

“This whole thing started because I really wanted to make part of what I do teaching for change. Teaching people how to make the world better in whatever way, shape or form that is,” Dr. Bresie said.

Lauren Stock, a senior who took both Senior Seminar and Blended Nations, served meals at The Bridge to complete the required service for her classes. She thought that merging academics with service made the experience especially worthwhile.

“I think that talking about [the service I was doing] in class made [the experience] more interesting because there were things that I noticed that I wouldn’t have noticed otherwise,” Lauren said.

In addition to serving the community, a main goal of servicebased classes is to introduce students to the idea that success in the classroom does not only have to be self-serving.

“When I am a student, I feel proud and a sense of accomplishment if I turn in a well written paper. But ultimately, that pride and satisfaction is selfserving. That’s like, ‘Yay me.’ What I want to have happen in a class is more than ‘Yay me’. I want all of us to have those ‘yay me’ moments, but I want those experiences then to have a ripple effect on the world,” said Assistant Head of School Tom Perryman, who teaches both Literature of Human Rights and

Courtesy of Sally Rosenberg

SERVING UP SERVICE: Upper School English Teacher Andrew Mercurio took his Social Class in Literature class to the Austin Street Shelter to serve meals to over 400 homeless Dallasites.

Poetry of Social Justice.

Lauren thinks that this goal is being accomplished.

“I was definitely proud of myself for the work I had put in, and inspired to continue working to make a difference because it was so easy to make a difference in people’s lives when I was [at The Bridge],” she said.

Community Service Director Sally Rosenberg thinks Greenhill can and should do more in terms of service learning, and actively tries to convince teachers to add a service component to their classes. “[There’s] a lot of discussion on the front end to convince

teachers that it would be a bonus for their class, not a detriment. It wouldn’t take away, but it would add an enormous component,” Mrs. Rosenberg said.

However, that incorporating service into a class takes a lot of work.

“I couldn’t just walk into an English class and start teaching.

And I don’t expect a teacher to start integrating service in meaningful ways right out of the gate,” she said.

Mr. Perryman is still grappling with using service as a tool in his class because he understands timing issues can arise.

“I’m still feeling my way. How

do I integrate [service] into the work of the class in a way that’s fair, reasonable and logistically doable?” he said.

Still, the teachers understand the importance of service in the curriculum.

“Hands down, it’s the most satisfying class I’ve ever taught; it’s the one where I’ve never been so proud of a class. It was the coolest experience I’ve ever had as a teacher,” Dr. Bresie said.

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Sexism is a problem in debate, female debaters say Simra Abedi

Copy Editor

Despite the success of Greenhill Debate, female debaters often leave the program. According to class rosters, there are currently only five girls in the Advanced Debate class out of a total of 13 students. Of these five, there is only one active female senior debater. Many say this is due to the apparent sexist behavior in debate, not exclusively at Greenhill, but at tournaments as well.

Before senior Brooke Bulmash’s first debate tournament her freshman year, Cindy Timmons, Director of Debate Aaron Timmons’ wife, who often helps at tournaments, sat her and the other girls down to discuss the way they should handle themselves during a tournament. They were told to hold their tongue and mind the volume of their voice, because trying to match boys’ behavior would paint them in a bad light.

Whereas boys might be perceived as assertive, girls are often perceived as ‘bossy,’ even if they are simply rising to the same level of aggression as their male opponents.

Brooke said she soon realized why this conversation was important so early on in her debate

career. Although the treatment of girls in debate at Greenhill was fair and equal, the tournaments were a different story.

“I was about to give the first constructive speech, and as I gave [my opponents] the flash-drive with my speech on it, and I was walking back to my computer I heard, ‘Debate Barbie,’ [from the opposing boys] which was very unsettling. That threw me off for the rest of the round and even the rest of the tournament,” Brooke said.

“

The way that guys go about learning is different than girls, and when you don’t have any other girls on the team or only have one other girl, it can seem a little alienating.

According to Brooke, the incident made her realize the amount of criticism that girls receive in debate. She said it’s not just the way girls speak that is scrutinized, but also the way they dress.

“There is a lot of scrutiny on the way you dress as a debater. Girls who wear high heels and a lot of makeup and not necessarily business attire are seen as less competitive,” Brooke said.

Middle and Upper School Debate Coach Eric Forslund said that sexism isn’t exclusive to debate, but is an issue throughout competitive academic fields.

“I think there are some pressures girls face nationally. When they are involved in high-level academic events, there is pressure to not be associated with that. I’ve seen that quite a bit, there is more pressure to do things that are considered feminine,” Mr. Forslund said.

Senior debater Grace Kuang said that there is pressure on the girls to not make mistakes in class, as they risk losing credibility when they do.

“It’s weird because a lot of the people there, especially guys, aren’t intentionally trying to be sexist. It’s like when you get a group of guys together who are really intelligent and who think they are really intelligent, there’s this group mentality that always happens where it feels like you’re consistently undermined, or if you speak up in class and give the wrong answer, there’s more loss of credibility when you do it than when they do it,” Grace said.

Senior Shivani Daftary, who is still enrolled in the class but no longer debates competitively, said that this creates an exclusive atmosphere where girls do not always feel comfortable.

“I think girls may be deterred from the activity because they might not want to be in a class that’s full of just guys. It’s kind of intimidating.

The way that guys go about learning is different than girls, and when you don’t have any other girls on the team or only have one other girl, it can seem a little alienating. In a sense, it seems like, ‘Why am I doing this activity if I’m not treated in the same way, even if it may be unintentional or subconscious?’” Shivani said.

Shivani said part of the reason she left competitive debate was because of the lack of female role models in the activity.

“Partially it had to do with the fact that I had other commitments and I didn’t want to give up everything for debate, so I switched to public forum because it was less time intensive. But

another portion of it was also the way that male coaches, not intentionally, but especially in the debate world, teach in general is very different than how a female might coach.

They expect that you know something, and if you don’t, it’s guy mentality that they joke around about it,” Shivani said.

Freshman Sophia Hurst, who is in the Introductory to Debate class, said that boys in her class form a camaraderie that excludes girls.

“The team dynamic is very masculine and very based on a male dynamic. It may not be sexist, but there is definitely exclusion throughout the debate community,” Sophia said.

According to Director of Debate Aaron Timmons, Greenhill’s debate staff recognizes these issues and has had conversations about possible solutions.

“Start with young women and allow them to have a voice. One of the things we have done in the last four to five years is develop a Lower School speech and debate club, and when they’re younger, we have the girls debating mainly with girls and the boys debating with boys. It’s to develop a sense of confidence and a sense of a voice that they may not have had,” Mr. Timmons said.

Freshmen debater Esha Julka noted that it is up to the girls in debate to serve as role models to other girls who may be hesitating to join the team.

“As girls, it’s our responsibility to do so because the only way we are going to get girls to stick with an activity that they love is to make sure they have someone there guiding the way,” Esha said.

Mr. Timmons believes it’s also important to have female coaches.

Shivani agrees, and believes that having female role models on the team would result in a higher retention rate for girls.

“There’s a difference between having two males coaches on the debate team and having female representation. Starting off freshman and sophomore year the class is pretty equal in terms of girls and boys, but in terms of people you look up to, they’re all guys,” Shivani said.

Currently, Greenhill Debate has two assistant female coaches.

However, they do not spend much time with the team. Sophia and Esha think they should play a bigger role on the team.

“They’re not really very involved, so it’s hard to tell what they’re like.

They come to tournaments when the coaches can’t, and it’s hard to form a relationship with someone you don’t see very often,” Sophia said.

Despite the issues that many girls face in debate, there are girls who thrive in the program and debate all four years of high school.

“We’ve had over the last few years a robust number of girls participate. Not only participate, but excel. They’re the ones who can not only put into words, but also have the motivation, the drive to navigate through some tough situations.

Some of the best debaters we have had here have been women,” Mr. Timmons said.

Last week, junior Shruthi Krishnan was named the top speaker and champion of the National Debate Coaches Associations National Championship event. She was thrilled to gain this status not only for herself, but for her team, saying that her role models were the strong Greenhill female debaters that came before

her.

“I was really excited to win top speaker and win the event because it’s a goal I’ve had ever since I joined Greenhill debate as a freshman. I would look up to all the people that had done Lincoln-Douglass debate before me like Rebecca Kuang a couple years ago and think, ‘That’s so cool, they won all these awards, I want to be successful like them,’” said Shruthi. “Some of my biggest role models and some of our most successful debaters have been female debaters, like Rebecca Kuang and Mitali Mathur.”

Despite the program’s flaws, Grace said that it’s important for girls to continue debate because of the value of the skills learned in the activity.

“It is such a shame when a girl quits debate because of a guy because it’s such a valuable activity,” said Grace. “It teachers girls how to combat sexism in the real world and gives them those advocacy skills that will help them later on in life.”

Graphics by Grace Doyle

8 features Alice Zhang

the

Evergreen

wednesday, april 19, 2017

A summer camp for teachers

Arts Editor

Every year, millions of high school students worldwide take The College Board’s Advanced Placement (AP) exams in hopes of earning college credit. A select group of teachers gather for one week in the summer to grade the exams in a quirky session that some have called “summer camp for teachers.”

This annual gathering is known as the AP Reading, and is a convention hosted by The College Board where teachers grade the free response sections of AP Exams. AP exams are 3-hour long collegiate level tests administered to students who either have taken an AP course or have self-studied for the test. The exams consist of multiple choice and free response questions, and for some, portfolio submissions, which are graded by AP readers.

To become an AP reader, high school teachers must submit an application to The College Board after three years of experience in a face-to-face classroom environment, unless the course is new. Among the Greenhill faculty, there are seven current AP readers: Upper School Math teachers Michael Legacy and Velvet Colvin, Upper School Science teachers Barry Ide, Jeff Funkhouser, Michael Haskins and Nicholas Park and Upper School Spanish teacher Mary Tapia.

More than 15,000 high school and college faculty gather in four different cities over a three-week period in June to attend the AP Reading where they grade over 30 subjects of AP exams. Different subjects are allotted specific times and locations within the three-week period. The grading follows a rigorous 8-hour schedule with breaks given in between. According to The College Board, graders score over 3.9 million exams.

On the first day of the AP Reading, all graders, both new and experienced, are trained on scoring exams and ensuring that scores are consistent within a group.

Mr. Legacy has attended the AP Reading for 17 years and stresses the importance of consistency within grading.

“The important thing is consistency, that whatever score a paper should have, any of the 700 readers [in Statistics] should be able to give it that score,” Mr. Legacy said.

Although the grading is difficult, Mrs. Tapia said that the academic development gained from the AP Reading is rewarding.

“You have to be at the top of the game with every single essay, and that’s what makes it so exhausting. It’s very intellectually challenging, very tiring, but very rewarding,” she said.

Along with the scoring sessions, graders can attend professional and unprofessional activities hosted by the convention in the evening. These include lectures by guest speakers, socials and themed nights, such as movie night and best practices night where teachers sign up to present activities they have done in classes. These activities not only serve as a break from the grading, but also an opportunity to learn from others. Mr. Haskins has scored the AP Physics 1 Exam for two years and believes that the

AP Reading is the best professional growth for educators.

“The atmosphere is awesome. You’re in a hotel with 400 other physics teachers. It’s the best professional development you could ever do. Everyone is super nerdy, and these teachers are some of the best in the country.

You get to share ideas and talk about what you do in the classroom. It’s fantastic,” Mr. Haskins said.

Dr. Amy Bresie, Upper School History Department Chair, who has scored the AP United States History Exam in the past, agrees that the atmosphere of the AP Reading is fully welcoming.

“It’s a pretty amazing thing when you get to use history puns and everyone in the room gets it and nobody groans,” Dr. Bresie said.

However, the inclusive spirit is not the only reason teachers enjoy attending the convention.

According to Dr. Bresie, many of the AP Readers also have their own inside jokes.

“My first year we were grading an essay on the civil rights movement. Some of them were hysterical. We had a list on the table of the people who wouldn’t give their seat on the bus. Clearly

they were trying to say Rosa Parks," said Dr. Bresie. "But some of them would say ‘Eleanor Roosevelt wouldn’t give her seat on the bus’, or ‘Oprah Winfrey wouldn’t give her seat up', and so we drew a picture of a bus and every time someone got someone different, we’d put them on the bus.”

According to Greenhill teachers, the AP Reading is a balance between demanding work and enjoyment, which makes it an opportunity for teachers to have fun while developing professionally. Although the grading can be rigorous, the knowledge gained from the experience pays off.

“It’s a lot of hard work, and it’s stressful, but also amazingly fun. People are goofy, in good spirits and free to fly their nerd flag high.” Dr. Bresie said.

Graphic by Amy Yang

In the Spotlight...

Josh Rudner Staff Manager

We continue our “In the Spotlight” series, a chance to get to know one randomly selected Upper School student each issue.

This conversation was with junior Caroline Harris.

In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and in 1620, junior Caroline Harris’ ancestors landed on Plymouth Rock after a long voyage on the Mayflower. Today, most people know them as the Pilgrims, but for Caroline, this cornerstone of American history is very personal.

Two years ago, Caroline began researching her family history on websites such as ancestry.com and familysearch.org.

“Family history is really important to me partly because of my personality,” she said. “I’m very [historically] minded. I don’t

consider myself an innovator, I consider myself a preserver and an analyzer.”

Beyond her personal inclinations towards the past, Caroline said that her religious background plays a role in encouraging this hobby.

“I’m Mormon and one of the things that is stressed a lot in our church is family history because we’re very family oriented.

Everyone in the church is encouraged to do family history and familysearch.org is actually a site that my church started and they have a partnership with ancestry.com,” Caroline said.

The summer before her freshman year, Caroline's family took a trip to Greece to explore her mother’s maternal side of the family.

“We found a lot of family members and connected a lot of points on my family tree that we didn’t have before,” she said. “But we

can’t go back very far because a lot of the records were destroyed in the Turkish-Greek War.” After two years of volunteering to transcribe handwritten documents onto familysearch.org’s digital database, Caroline has been able to trace parts of her ancestry to the eighth century CE. Needless to say, she has found some interesting stories from her past, like an ancestor who was an artist for the court of the King of England. However, Caroline said some of the most meaningful parts of her background that she’s connected with were those of idealists, now known all across this continent, who left their homes in Europe to make a new life across the sea.

“I feel most connected with my early American ancestors because I just think they were really brave to come for religious freedom. One of my ancestors was the

secretary of the Plymouth colony and he wrote one of the accounts of the Mayflower’s arrival,” she said. “They came from this ‘civilized’ and developed nation all alone to a place with land that was completely uncultivated, with people whose skin color they had never seen before, and they did a really great job of creating this new civilization.”

Caroline said that her research has influenced her opinions about current events, including the current Syrian refugee crisis.

“Obviously everyone who lives in America is descended from immigrants, but that’s easy to forget,” said Caroline. “But when I’m in the thick of researching and finding new ancestors that immigrated here, it makes me more sensitive to their stories. I’ve become very passionate about supporting refugees and immigration reform.”

Photo courtesy of Caroline Harris

TRACING FAMILY LINES: Caroline Harris with her immediate family and Greek relatives from her mother's maternal side. They are standing in front of the Greek Orthodox Church in her great-grandmother's hometown, Litochoro, Greece where she was christened. Caroline is standing towards the middle in a white shirt to the left of her mother in a red shirt.

wednesday, april 19, 2017

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Same place, different space

Mrs. Ross agrees that this is one of Mr. Worcester’s strengths.

“He’s super smart, he thinks strategically and he’s very calm and good at seeing situations and being a problem solver. I feel like [Head of Upper School] takes someone who is good at weighing different options,” Mrs. Ross said.

One area where Mr. Worcester plans on using this approach is in regards to the Upper School’s schedule, which underwent major changes at the beginning of the 20152016 school year under Mrs. Ross. These changes moved the Upper School start time from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., which reduced the amount of free time during the school day.

Mr. Worcester hopes to further adjust the schedule so that it is less compact, alleviating some of the stress placed on students. While there will be no change for the 2017-2018 school year, Mr. Worcester hopes that he is able to lay the groundwork for change to occur in the near future.

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I want to have an open door so that people feel comfortable coming in with questions and concerns. That’s what we’re here for.”

This will not be Mr. Worcester’s first time serving in a larger role at Greenhill. In addition to being the Modern and Classical Language Department Chair, he’s also been a Team Leader (a resource for advisors) and Head of the Vision Committee. Those who have worked under his direction say that he’s more than qualified for the position.

“He’s very organized and has worked in many different capacities. All of his experience [around Greenhill] will be a real

plus for him in the new position,” said Upper School Spanish teacher Mary Tapia. “He has a track record of demonstrated leadership.”

On a more personal level, Mr. Worcester is excited to interact with more people in his new position.

“As a Latin teacher, I have a really narrow slice of the student body, which makes me have to find other ways to connect with the rest of the student body. I’m really looking forward to being able to connect with the greater community,” Mr. Worcester said.

Mrs. Ross said that spending time in the classroom and talking to students is critical to dealing with the challenges and stress of being Head of Upper School.

“Some days in this job, all you see is the bad stuff. My big word of advice is to get out every day, talk to kids, go into classes. You have to surround yourself with the good that’s going on because it’s easy to get caught up in the problems,” she said.

This shouldn’t be a problem for Mr. Worcester according to current seniors in his advisory. “ He just has a really good understanding of the ins and outs of the school and all of the things that kids go through,” said senior Annie Ablon. “Having had him for four years as an advisor, I know that he’s very empathetic towards students.”

According to Director of Academics Jason Yaffe, who was a first year teacher at Greenhill with Mr. Worcester in 1998, Mr. Worcester has a demeanor well-suited to his new role.

“I think that in any leadership role, there is a time and place for lightheartedness.

He has a wicked sense of humor,” said Mr. Yaffe. “It’s a school where teachers and administrators deal with a lot of people. You have to know how to read the room: when to

Photo by Zeenya Meherally

POSITIONED FOR SUCCESS: Trevor Worcester will serve as the interim Head of Upper School for the 2017-2018 school year.

be serious and when it’s more lighthearted.”

While Mr. Worcester has not yet had extensive opportunities to showcase his comedic talents to the entirety of the Greenhill Upper School, he has been able to do so with a select group of students.

“I think my love of theater and acting comes through in my classroom. I never got to be the famous comic, but I get to do that in the classroom. I get my own little audience, and they humor me by laughing at my jokes,” Mr. Worcester said.

Humor is just one of many tools that Mr. Worcester has used to craft a relationship with students, feeding off of the energy and

passion they bring to class every day. He wants to bring this same mindset to the broader Upper School.

“I want to have an open door so that people feel comfortable coming in with questions and concerns. That’s what we’re here for. It’s the relationship aspect between teaching and learning. I want that relationship to be full, healthy and dynamic,” Mr. Worcester said.

It’s teatime at Greenhill Sophie Bernstein

Backpage Editor

Throughout history, tea has played an important role in shaping culture and world events: in China during the Shang Dynasty, in the Boston harbor in 1773, with a polite pinky up with milk and sugar when it’s “British style” and at Japanese tea ceremonies.

This interest in tea has pervaded Greenhill’s campus, with some students going as far as spending free time to learn more and spend time drinking tea.

Senior Chandler Crates is doing a senior project in the tea industry. Senior projects are a chance for members of the graduating class to pursue a study of interest in a non-Greenhill workplace environment during the last three weeks of the school year.

Chandler’s senior project will take place at the Cultured Cup, which sells and teaches the history of various teas. There, she will not only learn about the contents of tea, but also its historical significance.

“It’s in an office building which is something you wouldn’t expect at first cause it’s like a tea house type thing, but then you get there and there are maybe 50 jars of tea of different kinds, maybe more,” she said about the Cultured Cup. “It’s a great place to interact with people, and that’s something that I think tea has the ability to do. It brings more people together, because it’s something that’s enjoyed in many places around the world and just something that really creates a sort of culture.”

According to Chandler, tea is growing in popularity at Greenhill, in part due to the potential to start conversations and create understanding amongst different people.

“Whereas people used to drink more coffee, I think there’s a transition to more tea drinking and it’s something that people can kind of talk about because there’s so many different kinds and different cultural signifi-

cance between different teas,” she said.

Chandler’s on-campus sponsor for her senior project, Upper School History teacher David Lowen, also said he enjoys tea for more than just the flavor.

“For me, the idea of drinking tea is more of the process of making [the] tea. The ritual of measuring out the tea, making it reach the proper temperature, and you don’t brew a lot of tea, you brew six ounces at a time,” he said. “On a Saturday morning, I’ll spend an hour and a half drinking tea and reading the newspaper, and it’s just very calming.”

Many members of the Greenhill community advocate for tea because of its healthy and calming effects.

“I would advocate that anyone who is getting stressed [should] learn how to drink a nice tea and they will calm down,” Mr. Lowen said.

Sophomore Grant Wang said he appreciates tea for its calming effects, and also had a message for those who may be hesitant to join the tea phenomenon.

“I just think more people should drink tea, try it out, embrace not necessarily a full blown tea ceremony, but every morning make it your own ritual,” he said. “Just partake a little bit.”

According to Chandler, while she has liked tea for a long time, she is now more interested in what tea means beyond the flavor. “[Tea] brings more global awareness and awareness outside American culture to other places around the world, which I think is really neat because actually the plant that grows tea [does not grow] in America yet because the climate isn’t right, so we get out tea from other places and if we’re drinking it I think we should be able to understand and sympathize with their culture more than we do now,” Chandler said.

11.6.13

The Evergreen

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Everg

Zayna Syed

The many fa

Editor-in-Chief

Stephen Crotty Staff Writer

In 1835 after losing his congressional election in Tennessee, Davy Crockett told his fellow politicians, “You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.” In many ways, ‘Texas’ has often seemed more of a state of mind than a geographic location.

The Evergreen decided to explore Texan identity within the context of the Greenhill and Dallas-Fort Worth community. Our staff members have interviewed 18 people about how identity is formed and what it means to be a Texan.

Is Texas part of the South?

Although sometimes labeled as part of the South, many members of the Greenhill community have a difficult time categorizing Texas in regional terms. Some consider it to be part of the South, while others insist it’s Southwest. Many say that Texas is its own entity altogether.

Sophomore Hannah Piper’s family has lived in Texas for multiple generations, even accumulating Texan artifacts from the 1800s. Hannah believes there is a distinct difference between Texas and the South.

“I find comfort in [Southern] culture, but some of the Southern values don’t hold up with my family as much as Texan values do. The Southern mindset is a bit more close-minded than the Texan one,” Hannah said.

Director of Equity and Inclusion Karen Bradberry grew up in Texas and always thought of herself as a Southerner. However, after visiting a school in Alexandria, Virginia for a conference, she realized Texans might not be quite as “southern” as stereotypes typically portray.

“I saw huge, stately homes that instantly reminded me of movies like Gone with the Wind. They had long, winding driveways, and homes adorned with tall, white columns that made the perfect verandas and back porches, just like the ones I’d seen in movies that portrayed the South.” said Dr. Bradberry. “I was like, ‘Woah, we are not the South. We are really more South-

West than South,’” Dr. Bradberry Nonetheless, many believe that Texas’ ties to slavery and the Confederacy inextricably link the state to the South.

“We’re a slave state and the Confederate side in the war. We’re on the border between the South and the South-West, but the part of Texas I grew up in was East Texas, so it was definitely the South,” said Upper School History teacher Dr. Becky Daniels. “[In fact], Greenhill used to be a cotton farm.”

Bigotry in the South Texas was a member of the Confederacy during the Civil War, following much of the South in its support of slavery and states’ rights. But 152 years after the Confederacy surrendered, many have said that Texans are still associated with the same culture. “[There is an] assumption that a Southerner or a Texan is going to be unwilling to even consider the other, the different,” said Upper School Spanish teacher April Burns.

Upper School History teacher David Lowen said that bigotry may be more apparent in the South, but it is not more prevalent than in other parts of the country.

“The South is no more racist, homophobic or sexist than any other part of the country. What I tell my friends is that our racism is just more overt, whereas racists in other parts of the country often are more covert, or hidden,” Mr. Lowen said.

Still, some assert that there are seeds of truth to every stereotype.

“I was forced into a mold I didn’t fit in very well.

There was a very narrow perspective of what a woman should be, and that caused a lot of personal tension that I think I wouldn’t have found if I’d grown up in New York City,” Dr. Daniels said.

These stereotypes can sometimes make identifying as a Texan difficult for students of color.

“It’s sometimes hard for me to be so proud of my Texan heritage when it kind of conflicts against who I am,” said sophomore Megan Olomu, who is half AfricanAmerican and half Indian.

Others, like senior Richa Sinkre, who is Indian-

American, believe that the large groups of minorities in Texas make it easy to identify as a Texan.

“I don’t think about it when I say, ‘Oh I’m an Indian that lives in Texas.’ Because I know that there are so many of them, it doesn’t seem like I’m an odd one out,” Richa said.

The Texas “Conservative” Today, Texans are often known for their far-right conservative politics.

Texas last voted blue in a presidential election in 1976 when Democrat Jimmy Carter was elected to office.

Since then, the state has been a Republican stronghold, consistently voting for conservative candidates.

“I would say that I’m conservative, which is the stereotype of both [Southerners and Texans],” said sophomore Bridge Brinkmann. “I think that the environment that people are brought up in, specifically around this culture, is traditionally very Christian, and the Christian sects that are predominant here are pretty conservative, leading it to being more conservative.”

Texan Identity in the Curriculum Many members of the Greenhill community believe that the school does not foster a strong Texan identity, at least not a stereotypical one. Greenhill’s curriculum may play a hand in this.

According to Middle School History teacher Peggy Turlington, who has taught at Greenhill for 21 years, Texas history at Greenhill has been “phased out” since the turn of the century. In the 1990’s, seventh graders at Greenhill would take one year of Texas history and tour the state on a week-long field trip. Today, seventh graders learn about Texas history in two to three weeks as part of a unit on westward expansion and the school trip has been discontinued.

“The Middle School does not have much time set aside for learning about American history. Fifth, sixth and eighth grades learn about global history, and only

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wednesday, april 19, 2017

aces of Texas 7th grades concentrates on America. If we were to teach only Texas history in seventh grade, that would mean no real American History in Middle School. To give that up for Texas really is something that shorts American history as a whole,” Ms. Turlington said.

As an independent school, Greenhill is not required to cover Texas history like Texas public schools.

However, in addition to some classes in Lower and Middle School, some teachers work Texas history into Atlantic Experience 9 (AX9), the required freshman history class, as part of their unit on westward expansion and sectionalism.

“We at Greenhill are about teaching things from different perspectives. You’ve got to study [Texas history] from an American perspective, you’ve got to study it from the perspective of the Mexicans, of westward expansion, you’ve gotta look at it from the settler’s perspective and the slave’s perspective,” said Dr. Daniels, an AX9 teacher.

“There’s a lot of different ways you need to look at the history of Texas. I would love to see a more engaging study of Texas.”

The required, year-long history classes in the Upper School, AX9 and Atlantic Experience 10 (AX10), focus on American and European history. According to Amy Bresie, Upper School History Department Chair, this is because AX9 and AX10 are focused on preparing students for college and life afterwards.

“It’s really kind of a complicated process, but essentially, it is a lot of looking from the outside, what are other places doing, what are best practices? What do colleges want to see? What do we want to make sure that a successful Greenhill graduate understands? What are the things you absolutely have to know?” Dr. Bresie said.

In the eleventh and twelfth grades, the History Department offers electives that provide a more in-depth focus on certain subjects, such as the Cold War, human rights or urban studies. Texas history is not currently offered as an elective.

“We base our electives off the passions of our teachers. And we have people right now, who, Texas history is not their just absolute passion, but maybe next year we will,” Dr. Bresie said.

A Southwestern literature and history class has typically been offered in the English Department that students could take for either history or English credit.

Assistant Head of School Tom Perryman a native Texan, began teaching the class in 1991, because he felt that students did not know enough about Texas history.

“A lot of it was just trying to bust myths that I feel like a lot of students have, particularly about Texas history. I called it Southwest, but it was really kind of focused on Texas,” he said. “I wanted the students to have as much of what was going on, to recognize it in their own backyard as much as possible.”

The class was discontinued two years ago due to scheduling issues.

One reason that Texas history may not be a passion for many teachers is that a large portion of Greenhill faculty is not from Texas. This is not by chance: Greenhill actively recruits teachers from outside the state in order to expose students to diverse perspectives and experiences.

“I think that we have to broaden our horizons, that we owe it to our students, to our mission, to have people from different backgrounds. If everybody grew up in the same area, you’re not going to have a very interesting faculty. So, we work really hard to have a diverse faculty and in every sort of nuanced idea of diverse,” Mr. Perryman said.

Texas history is covered in greater depth is the Lower School. Second graders learn about Texas traditions and go on Texas-themed field trips such as the Fort Worth Stockyards, while fourth graders study traditional Texas history in the classroom. According to Lower School History Department Chair Hannah Harkey, this allows students to nurture a stronger sense of identity, which is especially important in the formative years that makeup the Lower School.

“I think it makes sense that they would hear most of [Texas history] in Lower School, when they’re learning about the differences of people and the differences of culture and how they fit into those different places and how those fit into the world,” Mrs. Harkey said.

Still, few envision a stronger Texas history curriculum at Greenhill in future years.

“I can be all self-righteous and say we ought to have more Texas history, but I think at this point, you’re kind of talking a zero sum game,” said Mr. Perryman. “If we’re going to add Texas history, what are we going to take away? You know I’m not going to look somebody

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in the eye and say Texas history is more important than whatever, but you’re not going to get me to say I think we ought to teach more Texas history on top of what we are teaching, ‘cause I think you guys are maxed out, and I don’t think that’s fair.”

Millenials What it means to be a Texan may depend on your age. As the world undergoes significant changes, such as the technological revolution and invention of social media, millennials view their identity as Texans differently from people of previous generations.

“Not growing up in the time period I did, [millennials’] view of what is Texan or what is Southern is completely different from my view,” said Mr. Lowen.

“Everything is blended together, and I think that deals some with the mobility and just with social media and the propensity of millennials to be more in touch with people outside their own area.”

Dr. Bradberry said that millenials may still identify as Texan, but their change in philosphy will affect the way they see their Texan identity.

“The more that technology allows [millennials] to access other parts of the world, the less attention, I think, is paid to specifics like ‘I’m from Texas.’ You run the risk of losing that sense of identity, or it doesn’t matter as much,” said Dr. Bradberry. “If we’re not intentional about creating an identity about where we’re from, then we run the risk of having an identity that’s there, but doesn’t mean the same thing.”​ Senior Richa Sinkre believes that millennials will redefine what it means to be Texan, so long as they keep identifying as Texans.

“There’s a lot of kids in our generation who are a lot more open-minded and who are a lot more accepting of new perspectives and new ideas. I think that if we continue to identify as Texan that will change the stereotypical view people have of the South,” Richa said.

reporting by Caroline Simpson

Graphic by Amy Yang

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Special Report

Photo by Zeenya Meherally

COME TOGETHER: The Upper School Latino Affinity Group bonds during a lunch meeting. The students meet to connect with fellow members of the Latino community.

Abbas Hasan News Editor Areeba Amer

Affinity for inclusion

Online Managing and Design Editor

Greenhill prides itself on its diversity.

The school has a 44 percent student of color rate and a 24 percent faculty of color rate, with a mission statement that includes diversity as one of its core values. This trend toward racial diversity seems to be increasing: the Lower School and Preschool have a 50 and 48 percent student of color rate, respectively. However, because of this diversity, some students may feel isolated and struggle to find a community within the larger Greenhill community. That’s where affinity groups step in.

Director of Equity and Inclusion Dr. Karen Bradberry implemented affinity groups to provide an opportunity for students and parents to bond over their common cultural identities. Prior to her arrival, clubs such as True Colors, a LGBTQ+ alliance, fostered community, but lacked the privacy some students wanted. Currently, Greenhill has several affinity groups based on cultural identities, race, parent/employee status, religion, political affiliation and sexual orientation.

According to Dr. Bradberry, Greenhill’s increasingly diverse community makes affinity groups more important than ever.

“I think the socio-cultural climate of the world is placing all of us in a space where the ways in which we identify are being discussed in such public fashion, that it’s really driving a need for folks to find a space to be themselves,” Dr. Bradberry said.

Affinity groups have been implemented in all three divisions. Although the purpose for the groups is the same, they manifest themselves differently in each division.

Lower School affinity groups focus on creating a community for kids who want to find people who look like them or believe the same things they do. According to Head of Lower School Michael Simpson, students may not be looking for solutions to their frustration or ways to get involved in the community beyond Greenhill.

“The purpose for the younger children is to feel that they have a community within the community,” said Mr. Simpson. “This

provides an anchor for them and makes them feel better and have more ownership in the larger community.”

Currently there are two official Lower School affinity groups: one for AfricanAmerican boys and one for girls.

In Lower School, the African-American affinity groups sometimes encounter sensitive questions or issues that young children might not be ready for. According to Mr. Simpson, this deters some parents from allowing their children to attend meetings.

“I’ve had several conversations with parents that have said they have not shared the biases in the world against their skin color or religion [with their children].

They’ve come to me saying, ‘Is that going to happen in these groups? We want to be the one to inform the child,’” Mr. Simpson said.

For Upper Schoolers, the need for affinity groups may be more prominent. As students begin to understand their identity, they want to reach out and find peers who they can connect with.

“People of like minds want to come together at some point in a way that they can share opinions or experiences. You don’t have to explain yourself in an affinity group,” said Michael Legacy, Upper School Math teacher and sponsor of the LGBTQ+ Affinity Group.

Senior Kathy Muñoz, one of the presidents of the Latino Affinity Group, believes that affinity groups should be open to anyone who identifies with a certain identity, regardless of how strong or important that identity is to them.

“There have been people who don’t come. People feel like they need to be at a certain level to come, but it’s really just if you feel comfortable saying that you are [Latino].

If that is how you express yourself, then you can come,” Kathy said.

For some, identity may be more complicated. Some students might belong to several affinity groups.

“Part of the work is to be able to bring the groups together and say, ‘Okay, I know we have our cultural nuances that make our experiences different, but let’s talk about those and look for the things we have in common,’” Dr. Bradberry said.

Others feel affinity groups are not only a way to connect with people who understand their culture in the same way, but also a way for students to become better educated about their own identifiers. Kai Hashimoto discovered this earlier in the year as a member of the East Asian Affinity Group.

“My family has been in America for many generations. The [East Asian Affinity Group] gives me a chance to learn about my own culture,” said Kai. “It’s important to share your culture, and learn from people who share your culture.”

Senior Bryant Caballero, another president of the Latino Affinity Group, believes the group helped him feel more at home at Greenhill. “[I switch] between two very crucial parts of my identity at home and at Greenhill.

At Greenhill I did have a home, but there was something missing that I needed,” Bryant said.

Something the members of the Latino Affinity Group, the LGBTQ+ Affinity Group, and the Union, the black male affinity group, all share in common is the need for a safe space to speak to members of their communities.

“I want to spend time with people who look like me and who have the same struggles as me in an environment where we are outnumbered,” said junior Curtis Dorsey, who is part of Union. “It’s nice to

hear that you are not the only one going through things.”

Affinity groups at Greenhill also extend to parents.

“Our parents felt alienated, like they couldn’t speak to other Greenhill parents.

They felt embarrassed because of the language barrier. Seeing how my parents can bond with the other parents has had the greatest affect on me. They are more involved in Greenhill life,” said senior Isabel Chavez, another president of the Latino Affinity Group.

According to Dr. Bradberry, affinity groups are one of the most effective ways to foster the inclusivity that all community members need, particularly those who are a part of marginalized groups.

Bryant stressed how important these groups are to students at Greenhill, and what he hopes members of his affinity group will gain.

“When we created this affinity group we felt it necessary to nurture [the Latino] side of ourselves and branch out and hug others,” he said. “Tell them, ‘It’s okay if they feel [marginalized] for a long time, this is a place where you can let it all out.”

Student Affinity Groups at Greenhill Lower School

Middle School

Upper School

AAA troupe (Black Boys)

African American Boys

Union (Black Boys)

African American Girls

Onyx (Black Girls)

Hispanic/Latino*

MSA

MSA*

LGBTQ+

GEMS (Black Girls) Muslim Student Associations (MSA)*

East Asian Conservative *meets with students only and no faculty

Latino/Hispanic

the

Arts

The Greenhill Renaissance Man

Ellen Margaret Andrews Executive Editor

Ross Rubin

Asst. Views Editor

If you’re looking for senior Jonah Goldberg, you’d better check the Marshall Performance Arts Center (MPAC). Spending at least six hours in the building every day, Jonah might be found in the dance studio choreographing a number or rehearsing a scene with the Theatre Company. He could be in the Advanced Video Production (AVP) room editing a film or writing a script. He might even be found beginning to memorize a script he received only a few hours earlier.

Although it’s hard to know just what Jonah will be doing, you’ll know that when you do find him, he’ll be up to something creative.

“Jonah is a multitalented young man.

He is a gifted actor, an innovative filmmaker, and a spontaneously creative improver.

He has impeccable comedic timing, and mesmerizing stage presence. He has a variety of wonderful things working for him.” said Middle School Math teacher and Spring Musical Assistant Henry Paolissi.

Although Jonah first was involved in the arts as a member of the Middle School Band ensemble, his interests expanded when he started participating in Middle School/ Upper School Visual Arts teacher Corbin Doyle’s video production camps during the summers of his Middle School years.

He discovered that the process of writing scripts and making films was artistically and creatively liberating. Soon, Jonah found himself on the stage, after a friend urged him to audition for Greenhill’s production of Avenue Q. Jonah is an active member of the Theatre Company, and has had a leading role in each of Greenhill’s three major productions this year. He is also the only male member of Greenhill Dance Company. Additionally, he is involved in Greenhill’s Improv Troupe, and was a member of Greenhill Singers during the first two trimesters of this school year. Despite his numerous commitments and his academic workload, Jonah loves what he does.

Although Jonah said he does not consider his commitments to be “work,” his teachers say he is dedicated and has a strong work ethic.

“Jonah is driven by a quest for

Photos courtesy of Jonah Goldberg and Julianna Arata

KING OF THE ARTS: Senior Jonah Goldberg has been part of 21 performances in his Greenhill career. A few of his performances: Cabaret (top), Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (bottom left) and Lord of the Flies (bottom right) are pictured here.

perfection. He doesn’t hesitate to put in the time or research needed to embody a particular character or create a cohesive story line. This process may actually take him days, weeks, or even months to achieve.”

Mr. Paolissi said.

Throughout his Upper School career, Jonah often had trimesters with a full schedule, leaving him with virtually no free time throughout the day. However, he said he prefers it this way.

“I never liked having a break because I felt like I was wasting time. When I have my

breaks, I would rather be writing a script, or going in there and learning how to use the light board for fun,” Jonah said.

Jonah admitted, though, that there are areas of his life that he has to sacrifice in order to dedicate sufficient time to the arts.

“I think I’ve sacrificed a little bit of my own time to, ya know, be a teen. I wanted to jump to professionalism so quickly that I bypassed any mental state of saying, ‘It’s okay to fail, and it’s okay to mess up,’” he said.

However, Jonah also believes that being well-rounded will prepare him to be more

competitive and prepared for work in the film industry, which is what he plans to pursue after college.

“You can’t make it in the entertainment industry without being able to do more than just one thing. A director should know how to edit, how to do sound, how to act, so he can communicate with the different people on his team,” he said.

Theatre Director Valerie Hauss-Smith appreciates Jonah’s willingness to broaden his skills as a performer. Through directing Jonah in roles such as Tartuffe in Tartuffe and Emcee in Cabaret, as well as a member of the ensemble in the Junior Players production of Rent, she noticed how his leadership and theatrical skills greatly improved the overall quality of the shows.

“He has a facility with language. He’s really smart and he understands what lies beneath the language. When it’s complicated, he’s able to deliver it quite well,” she said.

Through working with the Junior Players, Jonah was able to make connections with the Dallas theatre community.

“If you give a crap, and are willing to put in the effort, and you’re easy to work with, they’ll love you and welcome you right in.

But if you show up like you own something, they will shut you down, and they are not afraid to shut you down,” Jonah said.

While Jonah is unsure which university he will attend next year, he believes the next four years of his life to be less about the classes he will take, and more about the people he will meet.

“What I want to do is make connections.

Anyone who wants to go to college for art doesn’t want to go to college for art,” he said.

“They want to waste four years until they break into the business. College would buy me four years to get my foot in the door.”

Ms. Hauss-Smith is excited to see Jonah continue to develop as a performer and a person as he moves on from Greenhill.

“I hope that he gets to be part of a company and that he continues exploring what that sort of collaborative work can develop,” she said. “You can really make a mark in the artistic world if you’re not just waiting to be cast somewhere, but you are willing to create your own work. For that you must be fearless and you are willing to fail.”

A look into the 50th Anniversary of ISAS Simra Abedi

Copy Editor

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS) Fine Arts Festival, which was held at the Casady School in Oklahoma City, where the first ever ISAS event was also hosted. ISAS is a large arts festival involving private schools from Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas to showcase work that students produce over the course of the year. Performances are critiqued by experts in the field so that students can gain feedback on their work. The entire event lasts two and a half days and is hosted by a different school each year.

It was the first time Middle School Fine Arts Department Chair Brian Donnell served as the festival coordinator for Greenhill, a position previously held by former Head of Fine Arts Michael Manes.

Mr. Donnell said that one of the best aspects of ISAS is the way in which it brings people from so many different schools together to celebrate art.

“The best thing about the ISAS Festival is the opportunity for our students to see

what’s happening with other students at other schools. The fine arts festival is not a competition, there’s no competitive element to it, so everybody there goes just from the angle of sharing whatever they’re doing,” Mr. Donnell said.

In order to honor the 50th year of the event, Casady created a special video tribute. The video compiled ISAS alumni selfies and was played during the festival. Greenhill alumna Molly Erdman ‘92 was featured within this video. Mr. Manes attended the festival to help organize a display of old ISAS memorabilia.

In addition, the choir groups from all schools involved in the festival prepared a special song to commemorate the occasion. They performed “All People That on Earth do Dwell” with accompanying band instrumentalists, which was the song performed at the very first ISAS 50 years ago.

After the mass choir, there was a rock concert put on by performers from Casady.

Thousands of students gathered to hear the music and watch the fireworks show in celebration

Photos courtesy of Alice Zhang and Julianna Arata

THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY: Students gathered at ISAS (top right) to see the rock concert (bottom right), the fireworks show (top left), and the mass choir (bottom left).

of the anniversary. Each student was given a cupcake and special glasses to be worn while watching the show.

The celebration concluded with

students enjoying a live band while crowd surfing, dancing and singing along.

14 arts Joseph Weinberg

the

Evergreen

wednesday, april 19, 2017

Dinner and a Movie

Managing Editor

Arhum Khan

Design Editor

Having just watched The Founder and looking for a romantic spot to spend date night, we decided to dine at the American institution we had just learned about, one that is near and dear to both of our hearts: McDonald’s.

Now, now, now, hear us out please.

Before you jump to conclusions about our health and hit us with the classic, ‘How could you eat that garbage? Do you know what their food is even made of? The only thing I trust there is the water’ rhetoric, allow us to make our case.

We were inspired to write about McDonald’s after the release of The Founder, a movie telling the story of the company’s unexpected journey from a local familyowned burger joint to a worldwide chain and global icon. The surprising success of McDonald’s epitomizes the American dream in some ways, and we felt it was only appropriate to honor the movie by paying the restaurant a visit. Besides, who doesn’t love a good Michael Keaton movie?

John Lee Hancock’s The Founder was insightful to say the least. It follows Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton), a heavy drinking salesman who manipulatively takes over a burger joint in San Bernardino, California.

He eventually connives his way to controlling the McDonald brothers’ finances by bank loans and tricky schemes. Through his canny actions, there is a certain level of fascination in the way Keaton’s character develops the famous arched “M” logo or speeds up the production of milkshakes. The journey of franchising, making deals and building a revenue stream, no matter how nefarious, is enticing.

In the end, the story was painful.

Graphic by Arhum Khan

Although McDonald’s success was built on grit and careful persistence and determination, the way ideas were stolen and capitalized upon was pretty unfair.

There was no one to root for.

“This story kind of left a bad taste in my mouth,” I told Joseph.

“I know just the thing to get rid of that taste,” he replied.

Naturally, we headed to one of our

favorite Micky D’s located at Preston and Royal. Despite strolling in after 10:00pm, the staff couldn’t have been nicer. It was a friendly and happy atmosphere. We saw the same positivity and hardworking mentality that drove Ray Kroc in our cashier and the rest of the McDonald’s staff that evening.

They were happy to serve us, and we were happy to be eating our Sunday supper there.

Ordering at McDonald’s is no easy

feat. With the recent addition of “all-day” breakfast, the possible meal combinations are overwhelming. Hash browns or fries?

Egg McMuffins or cheeseburgers? Chicken nuggets, chicken snackwrap or chicken sandwich? Late-night pancakes? There were tough decisions to be made.

After intense minutes of contemplating and carefully examining the menu board, Arhum stepped up to the register.

“I’ll have a double quarter pounder with fries and an oreo McFlurry please,” Arhum said.

“No McNuggets?” I asked in disbelief, wondering how he could dismiss a McDonald’s staple. “That’s a bold strategy, let’s see if it pays off.”

Trying to satisfy both my dinner and breakfast cravings, I decided to go with a 6-piece McNugget (with BBQ sauce obviously), an egg McMuffin and an order of fries.

“No ice cream?” Arhum asked.

“Nah,” I shook my head. “I can’t do that to my body right now.”

Arhum nodded in agreement.

Our dinner turned out to be more of a family-style meal anyway. We simply couldn’t resist munching on each other’s food.

And perhaps the best part of the entire meal, we both ended up spending less than eight bucks. Our wallets were as satisfied as we were after eating at McDonalds.

We left the trademark American institution that night feeling full, patriotic and a little worried about our caloric intake.

That being said, we knew we’d be back at the Preston and Royal Micky D’s in the near future with new items to order, and more calories to intake.

“See ya next Sunday,” we said to each other, bidding farewell to our evening.

South by Southwest mainstays

Every year, Advanced Video Production (AVP) students submit their films for a chance to be nominated in the High School Shorts category at the prestigious South by Southwest Film Festival (SXSW). Greenhill has had two or more films nominated every year for the past eight years. Greenhill’s success in SXSW has made it one of the most successful video production programs in the country. Here’s a look of some of the nominated film’s posters over the years.

Film posters courtesy of Corbin Doyle

Year Nominated for SXSW: 2014

Year Nominated for SXSW: 2017

Year Nominated for SXSW: 2014

Year Nominated for SXSW: 2014

Directors: Kalen Doyle, ‘14 and Abby Grindstaff, ‘16

Director: Sam Cooper, ‘15

Director: Tiffany Giraudon, ‘14

“Darcy’s avatar attempts to promote her quinceañera, which is occurring in the real world. All the avatars assume it is occurring on the R3AL W0RLD innernet server, because in this retrofuturist photorealistic role-playing game reality, the vast majority of people’s time is spent online on the internet.”

“Cultivation is a stopmotion short about young woman and the world that her written words create.”

Directors: Caila Pickett, ‘15 and Max Montoya, ‘13

“Unicorn Council is a stopmotion short about an evil man-eating cat and the space unicorns that work to save the day. The saviors of the universe have horns and attitudes.”

“In Seawolf, Alison experiences loneliness, joy and fear as she travels to different worlds through magical boxes. This film has been influenced by the works of artist Joseph

Cornell.”

Content from sxsw.com

arts 15 Evergreen Picture This: Greenhill teacher featured in magazine wednesday, april 19, 2017

Abbas Hasan

News Editor

Frank Lopez, Middle School and Upper School Visual Arts teacher, was featured on the front cover of the Dallas Observer’s February issue. Mr. Lopez’s work using antique cameras and analog photography has led him to reach prominence in the Dallas arts community.

Featured as an alternative artist for his work with analog photography, Mr. Lopez was asked to photograph another artist, Shamsy Roomiani, using his analog camera. Members of the Dallas Observer staff, both print and video staff, observed Mr. Lopez as he took the photo and printed it onto glass and metal.

Analog photography consists of printing in alternative forms, including film, glass, metal and fabric. The photos have to be developed separately in the dark room. The other most common type of photography is digital photography, in which photos are handled electronically. The Dallas Observer asked about his techniques, how they are used and why he is so fascinated by analog photography.

“

It was something I found so interesting even before there was such a thing as digital.

This is not the first time Mr. Lopez has received notice for his work with analog photography, and not even the first time he has been featured in the Dallas Observer.

However, this is the first time he has been featured on the front cover of a regional magazine.

“I’m famous for a week. It is a wonderful thing. It is a lot of fun.

I find it a little embarrassing, but I actually have had a wonderful time with it. My daughter

the

and wife love it too,” Mr. Lopez said.

For the interview with the Dallas Observer, Mr. Lopez used one of his favorite cameras.

“We call it the ‘Big Green Monster’ because it is huge and it has a nineteenth century lens on it. I found it in an antique shop for 45 dollars. I rebuilt it and now it is my primary camera,” Mr. Lopez said.

Mr. Lopez has been in love with analog photography for over 30 years. He began to use the form in 1989 as a junior at East Texas State University. While working with black and white film, he started to appreciate the analog form.

At this time, digital photography was just starting.

“It was something I found so interesting even before there was such a thing as digital. I fell in love with different kinds of shooting and processing techniques,” said Mr. Lopez. “Digital was so far off in the horizon, we had no idea it was going to change the profession and society so fundamentally.”

Because of this societal change and the fact that all current Greenhill students have lived in a world with digital photography, Mr. Lopez has stressed the importance of teaching analog photography to his students so they can better understand the photography process.

“All of my students started in the black and white dark room. There is no moving forward without the past,” Mr. Lopez said.

Senior Mira Fradkin has been studying photography at Greenhill since her freshman year, and she appreciates Mr. Lopez’s desire to dip into old techniques.

“He pushes people creatively, and he pushes people out of their comfort zones. I think that is a good thing to have in an arts teacher because we wouldn’t be as unique or as diverse in our photography

Photo by Simra Abedi

PICTURE PERFECT: Teacher Frank Lopez was recognized for his work in analog photography by the Dallas Observer for their February Issue.

if we didn’t have him,” Mira said.

Mira said that Mr. Lopez’s commitment to teaching and photography makes him unique in the Dallas photography community.

“Mr. Lopez prides himself of our

photography program being more than just pretty pictures, but actually pictures that have meaning,” she said.

the

Sports Swing for the fences

Coach Troy Haugen has Greenhill baseball moving in the right direction Jordan Sternblitz Sports Editor

Greenhill baseball has undergone significant changes in the last two years.

From finishing with a record of 1-11 in the 2015 season to going 9-8 in 2016, the program has taken a drastic turn in a positive direction. One main factor in the transition was the hiring of Head Coach Troy Haugen for the start of the 2016 season. In his second season, Coach Haugen and the baseball team plan to continue the resurgence of the program.

The players have experienced the transition and acknowledge the culture has changed in the program, especially when it comes to the coaching of the team. Senior Peter Diaz, a four-year Varsity player, believes that Haugen has maximized practice time well in his time as Head Coach.

“With Lowry [former coach], [practice] was definitely a lot more lackadaisical. But now with Haugen, everything seems to be intentional, there’s never wasted time during practices or anything like that. It seems like there’s a reason behind doing everything,” Peter said.

Specifically, Peter points to the incorporation of drills that help the team hone individual skills as opposed to strictly conditioning.

“We [used to do] a lot of running for punishment, but also just to get in shape, but [now] we don’t do nearly as much running, we do actual baseball work instead of just getting in shape,” Peter said.

Coach Haugen says that focusing on skills as opposed to the conditioning-based practices of the past are important to his coaching style. He is a firm believer that success is a product of repetition when it simulates reality.

“There’s always a reason why I’m teaching something, and I like to make sure I can explain that,” said Coach Haugen. “A lot of the temperature I got from the past was it was more like getting in shape and it was ‘track practice.’ I’m a skills and drills guy. I’m going to focus on skills that are going to make them better. If we don’t practice it at the type of seriousness where it’s game-speed, when that opportunity arises, they won’t know how to be successful.”

Specifically, Coach Haugen likes players to have frequent batting practice where they can see pitches from other players and coaches as opposed to a machine. He believes that seeing these live pitches will

Greenhill baseball by the numbers Compiled by Jordan Sternblitz and Lili Stern stats current as of 4/11/2017

Photos courtesy of Rebecca Shuman

OUT OF THE PARK: Coach Troy Haugen (top left) and the Greenhill Baseball program have strided forward the past two seasons and look to finish the 2017 season on a high note.

assist his players with their timing during an actual game.

“I throw a lot of batting practice at the kids. What that’s doing is emulating timing that you’re going to see in a game. You got to learn how to make an adjustment,” Coach Haugen said.

Senior Matthew Gold, a four-year member of the program, thinks that Coach Haugen’s style has motivated the players.

“I think people in practice are a lot more serious and dedicated to the sport.

We see the passion from Haugen and all the other assistant coaches he’s brought on and it sort of changed our mindset as well. I think, with the change in the coaching staff, it has sort of trickled down to the

Current team batting average. The average has increased .076 since the end of the 2015 season.

.295

Number of total stolen bases for JakeHershman on the season. He leads the team in this category.

20

players and it’s really shown with everyone’s effort on the field,” Matthew said.

This motivation stems from Coach Haugen’s ability to relate to the players. His goal is to create a supportive atmosphere that helps each player believe in himself.

“

If you want to accept mediocrity, then go ahead, but that’s not what we’re doing here. The kids have bought into that and it’s shown in two years how far we’ve developed.”

“My motto is constantly coaching and talking to these kids all the time, whether it be in practice or games, and making sure

they understand I have their backs at all times. I’m on the field with you, I’m playing with you and I believe in you and I know you can do this. I try to create that atmosphere of, ‘hey I can do this,’” Coach Haugen said.

Coach Haugen also preaches that nothing comes easy. He credits the players for being motivated not to settle for mediocrity and to truly buying into the program.

“I’m not going to hand them a trophy for doing something the wrong way. I’m going to call them out and tell them that it’s no good, it doesn’t work, that it’s unacceptable. If you want to accept mediocrity, then go ahead, but that’s not what we’re doing here. The kids have bought into that and it’s shown in two years how far we’ve developed,” Coach Haugen said.

Senior Jake Hershman is playing for the first time since seventh grade. Jake is excited to play on a team sport during the spring season after competing in track events for the past three years.

“I played baseball throughout my life and I had really missed that as part of my life and sports career. It’s the last time I’m going to play a team sport, so I said ‘Why not?’ and joined the baseball team,” Jake said.

In addition to adding baseball back into his life, Jake’s wanted to join the team to be part of the culture change. He respects his coach’s passion for Hornet baseball.

“He brings intensity, responsibility and accountability. He has a fun side, but he also gets down to business. He realizes that we have a rigorous academic part of our day, but he brings that same intensity on the baseball field, which I really love,” Jake said.

With the season already in full swing, the players have high hopes for how the team will finish this season. Currently, the team sports a 12-7 record. Those twelve wins are more than Greenhill baseball has seen over the past two seasons combined.

As the culture continues to change, the program is prioritizing winning now more than ever, and this message is being spread throughout the clubhouse.

“We’re very optimistic. Our first goal is to make it to the [Southwest Preparatory Conference] playoffs, and when we get there, our goal is obviously to win it all,” Matthew said.

Amount of total wins for the Greenhill baseball team this season. This is more wins for the program than the previous two seasons combined.

Number of total runs scored by the team this season. Jake Hershman leads the team with 25 runs.

Number of Runs Batted In (RBI) by Jake Webster, who has the most on the team this season.

Jake Hershman’s batting average so far this season. He sports the highest average on the team.

12 18

123

.381

the

Evergreen

wednesday, april 19, 2017

sports

17

Pack a punch

Annika Squires reviews Title Boxing Club Annika Squires Views Editor

On a temperate evening in early March, I drove my car into a full parking garage on lower Lemmon Ave with a mission in mind: becoming the next Muhammad Ali. With the determination of a Mixed Martial Arts fighter, I hauled my booty up three flights of stairs into Title Boxing Club Uptown. The studio is not for the faint of heart; it offers no free samples, no scented lotions and has a no-nonsense atmosphere. However, the gloves are free to use for class, and wraps for your hands can be purchased for eight dollars.

While I have taken many classes at Title Boxing, I had been on a month’s long hiatus (this was a BIG mistake). From the moment I walked in and saw my instructor Manuel, who was doing pull ups before class for “fun”, I knew the following days were going to be filled with yelps of pain from soreness.

Our warm-up was intense: 15 minutes of burpees, squat jumps, lunges and jumping jacks on repeat.

Midway through the warm-up, I began to sweat. All around me, people groaned as Manuel yelled at us to keep going.

Photo courtesy of Title Boxing Club

INSIDE THE BOX: With 166 locations spanning across North America, Title Boxing Club provides a unique type of workout featuring various types of boxing for exercise goers to choose from.

“This ain’t no Pilates class,” Manuel said with a grin.

As my ears were bombarded by “Dirt off your shoulders,” a classic hype melody from Jay-Z’s 03’ era, I cursed the Evergreen for convincing me to write this review.

Once the warm-up ended, I faintly wheezed a sigh of relief; however, I knew the worst was yet to come.

Standing in the middle of 60 boxing bags

perfectly arranged in a grid formation, Manuel proceeded to show us our first boxing combination. As he introduced a complicated mix of jabs and uppercuts, I was determined to succeed.

Back at my bag, Manuel’s inyour-face, drill sergeant attitude and the continual playing of upbeat music encouraged me to keep pushing.

Twenty-four minutes later, every person in our class was

drenched in pools of sweat, muscles were quaking but the aura of the room emulated a collective feeling of success and pride.

This pride was quickly turned to dread when Manuel yelled at us to get our mats and medicine balls. For the final 15 minutes of class, Manuel led us through what the website calls the “hardest, most sculpting portion of our class.”

Through screams and grunts, 60 people encouraged

each other to do one more crunch, one more Russian twist, five more leg lifts and just 30 more seconds of an intense spider man plank.

Every time I attend a class at Title, I walked out amazed.

While I typically spend my time working out at boutique studios that tend to nurture and encourage through positive affirmations that could probably be found on greeting cards at any Hallmark store, Title Boxing is the complete opposite.

The workout is incredibly intense, and so is the environment.

The trainers are passionate and care that each person in their class succeeds. The studio can hold 60 people during a class, and every class is almost always completely full of men and women of all shapes and sizes.

Countless times I have been at the studio and struck up conversations with people who have lost over 30 pounds and attribute it all to the dedication and encouragement of the trainers at Title Boxing.

Though the class is hard, I would recommend it to anyone who is committed to put 110% into their workout, regardless of fitness level.

Aces: a look into the success of boys’ tennis Christian Quintero Broadcast Editor

Greenhill’s boys’ tennis program has reached new levels of domination in recent years. Having captured eight Southwest Preparatory Conference (SPC) titles since 2007, the squad was recently invited to compete at the National High School All-American Tennis Tournament.

This tournament features some of the best high school tennis programs in the country, and this year marks Greenhill’s third invitation.

“You have to be very good just to crack the top seven” said junior Rishi Vas. “We have loads of talent on the team, but we also have a great coach as well.”

“

“It’s really surreal. Tennis is usually such an individual sport and to be a part of a team fighting for something like this is really cool.”

Head Coach Scott Cotton played NCAA Division I Tennis at Georgia Tech and brings a plethora of experience to the table. It is his 13th year coaching at Greenhill and his second as head coach.

“We have been very fortunate to have had such talented players who also seek a great education,” said Coach Cotton. “I think that Greenhill’s accommodating schedule has been what is so helpful to these boys. They can get their education and still maintain a high level of intensity in tennis.”

The program has three players consistently playing International Tennis Federation (ITF) tournaments, meaning they get to travel the world playing against the best young talent across the globe. Tennis

is amongst the most rigorous of youth sports requiring young athletes to travel for more than half of the weekends in a year. Seniors Max Mendelsohn and Nate Eazor are ranked 68 and 115 in the nation, respectively. In addition, Sophmore Max Motlagh is ranked 149 in his class.

“For a while I had to be home schooled. It’s tough to always be travelling so much and maintaining school, but Greenhill is very understanding and I’m very happy here,” said senior Nate Eazor.

And indeed that is what has made Greenhill so enticing to some of these ITF players.

“I think private schools in general are more flexible with time schedules. I’ve had to miss school here at Greenhill but my teachers and the administration have been very understanding. Greenhill also provides an amazing education. It really was a perfect fit”.

Sophomore Max Motlagh, the youngest of the three ITF players, says the travelling required for ITF is unique and one of the best parts.

“I can’t travel to too many tournaments because of school, but during breaks or over the summer you can catch me in the Caribbean or in Puerto Rico or in Argentina playing tennis.” he said.

With players like Max Mendelsohn, Max Motlagh and Nate Eazor at the forefront, Greenhill has earned a reputation not just among SPC’s elite, but across the country as well recently playing in the National High School All-American Tennis Tournament.

“It’s really surreal. Tennis is usually such an individual sport and to be a part of a team fighting for something like this is really cool,” Max Mendelsohn said.

The Greenhill boys’ tennis team finished fifth overall at the National High School All-American Tournament and won their first round of matches before falling to eventual champion Palisades Charter High School (Pacific Palisades, CA) by a 6-2 score in the second round.

Despite not winning it all, the team’s performance will mean a lot to the program moving forward.

“It’s really important because this proves where the program stands nationwide,” said senior Jack Goodwin. “It shows we belong with the big dogs.”

With their trip to California behind them, the team has shifted its attention to earning a fifth SPC title in a row. Despite so much success in the past, the team remains focused on the goal ahead of them.

“I really want a ring,” said Max Mendelsohn. “No matter how many times Greenhill has won before, you always want more, and that’s the sign of a good program.”

Photo courtesy of Max Mendelsohn

GET SERVED: Senior Max Mendelsohn (above), in his first season with the program, has helped put the Hornets in prime position for another SPC championship run.

18 sports

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wednesday, april 19, 2017 Evergreen Preschool adds Physical Education to daily schedule Radhe Melwani Features Editor

This school year, the Preschool added Physical Education (P.E.) to their daily schedule, and the results are already evident. According to Head of Preschool Netra Fitzgerald, the preschool students stand in line calmly, not pushing each other or yelling, and transition to their classe quickly and without too much hassle. Previously, the preschoolers only attended P.E. three times a week.

“The extra daily exercise coupled with mindfulness has definitely created a different atmosphere in our building.

[The preschoolers] are getting a chance to run and jump and expend the energy that they have, and then when it is time to come back to the classroom and transition between classes, they are a bit more settled,” Mrs. Fitzgerald said.

In the past,

both preschool teachers and P.E. teachers wanted more P.E. time for preschoolers, but scheduling concerns have prevented this adjustment. This year, through collaboration between Lower School Physical Education Department Chair Tatiane Deibert, Lower School Physical Education Department Chair Stacey Johnson and the Preschool administration, the change was finally able to be made. “[Scheduling P.E. time for the preschoolers] has always been a problem because of space, but this year we decided to change their curriculum to bring everybody every day and it has been awesome. Crazy, but awesome,” said Coach Deibert. “We were looking at trying to get these kids to explore and learn a little bit more, to be a little more active and help with their social skills. I think at the end, [this change] will be very beneficial for them.”

In addition to their P.E. time,

preschoolers also have three recesses per day: two 15-minute recesses and one 30-minute period. In total, they enjoy an hour of recess. Combined with a 30-minute PE period each day, this accounts for a total of 1.5 one hours of exercise for preschoolers.

Mrs. Fitzgerald and Greg Browne-Nichols, the Prekindergarten Team Leader, both agree with the studies and research that say exercise is integral to students’ learning.

“I think early childhood teachers here value and know the importance of recess, especially for kids this age. [Through recess, preschoolers] get to know their environment and make discoveries through play. I think it is something that we all agree on, and we try to see how we can create that balance to make sure they are having recess time and doing everything else we need to get done,” Mr. Browne said.

In addition to expending energy, the extra exercise has been beneficial in

many other aspects of students’ education, such as the opportunity to work on their life skills and physical abilities. “[Preschool teachers] really whole-heartedly believe in extra exercise. In recess and free-play you have the opportunity to solve conflicts and work together as a group. That peer collaboration and problem solving happens organically, [at P.E. or recess] and they having to use the skills they are learning in the classroom outside,” Mrs. Fitzgerald said.

The preschoolers love the opportunity to play more as well.

“I like [P.E.] ‘cause it is fun and we play, play, play,” said preschooler Piper Beatey.

graphic by Arhum Khan ,

Way back Wednesday

The Evergreen asked Upper School students to throw it back to their childhood and tell us their earliest sports memory. Here is what they said:

Diego Marrero, senior My first sports memory is of me picking up a basketball at a local YMCA. I was about five at the time, and I had learned the basics of how to shoot and dribble from my dad, who for the rest of my time in athletics, always helped me and pushed me along the way. Anyways, the YMCA was the first organized basketball I ever played, and that was back when you would line up and call out your man before starting the game. While I don’t remember many in-game moments or highlights, I do recall my parents getting on me for refusing to pass the ball to anyone. I must admit, I was a scoring machine, but I still needed to get comfortable in a team environment and learn to put faith in those around me to secure the best interests of the team.

Reid Zlotky, sophomore My first memory playing sports is when I was in Pre-K at Levine Academy and I was playing co-ed soccer. The team I played for was called the Pirates. I remember before the first game started, I started talking to the kids on the other team who were called the Zebras. I explained how my team would win because a pirate could easily beat a zebra in a fight because zebras have no offensive capabilities, unlike pirates who have swords and cannons. I remember playing the game and running around kicking the ball but I don’t think I scored. I do, however, remember that my team lost the game when my dad told me. I am pretty sure I cried, but I think that the Capri-Sun that one of the moms brought made me feel better.

Annie Ablon, senior I liked the color pink, even though I was a “Purple Girl.” Therefore not only did I like our jerseys, but also the little flowers in the corner or the YMCA soccer field.

Those flowers quickly became my priority, collecting as many as my hands would hold.

Obviously, I wasn’t a very aggressive player, so I was on defense. It was only when my coach called my name that I remembered why I was on the field. After a quick reality check, I finally understood why my coach was calling to me: the ball was coming my way! Out of panic, confusion and adrenaline, the second my foot touched the ball, I kicked it straight into the closest goal. I was ecstatic when I saw the soccer ball cross that threshold, I even threw my hands up and screamed in excitement! But no one else was celebrating with me, and it wasn’t until I saw the look on my parents’ faces on the sideline that I realized why. I had just scored my first ever goal on my own team.

wednesday, april 19, 2017

Prove it

I’m sure we’ve all heard the expression, “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.”

And yes, I agree with that statement to an extent, but I recently witnessed something that made me think twice about not just the phrase, but the implications of it. I was walking around a training facility when I heard someone on their cell phone say, “No I’m se-

the

Evergreen

rious, vaccines cause autism.” I’ll admit, it took me a second to seriously take in how idiotic the comment was, but after that, I asked him respectfully about his comment and he responded with, “I’m entitled to my own opinion!”

This is an extreme yet very telling example of the issue with how protected opinions are nowadays. You can’t disagree with anyone anymore. Whenever met with an idea/opinion you disagree with, you really only have two options. You either walk away in fear of losing more brain cells, or you yell at each other until one of you gets tired. The issue I have with, “I’m entitled to my opinion,” is that it is used to shelter beliefs that should be abandoned. It pretty much translates to, “I can say or think whatever I like,” and by saying that, you are now an awful person if you disagree.

afterwords

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That person on the phone can tell me that vaccines cause autism all they want and they are “entitled” to that opinion, but they are by no means entitled to have their opinion taken seriously or even respected. And that goes for any opinion. I don’t care whether it’s your opinion on if pineapple goes on pizza (it does and I will happily discuss it with you ) or if it’s your most dearly held belief about your morals, religion or political standing.

Now you might ask, “Chris, why should I care?” I’m glad you asked. It’s because I have no interest in having a shouting match with an individual too self righteous to even consider that they might be wrong. We’ve all been there, and I know that it’s just as frustrating for anyone else.

So, if you want to go on a huge Facebook rant on where you stand with certain issues,

be my guest. I’ll probably scroll by it anyway, but if not, I’m sure I would find a battle raging in the comments with neither side really getting anywhere. If you’re going to dish out opinions left and right, make sure you can take the consequences. If you dogmatically lay down the law online and can never find a way to look at the other side rationally, then you’re a huge part of the problem. Nothing grinds my gears more than someone who is so aligned with a set of opinions that not only do they refuse to question them, they completely degrade those who will not agree with them. How can we ever discuss and improve if all we care about is being right? At the end of the day, if you’re going to have an opinion, no matter how idiotic or brilliant it might be, you better be able to back it up.

about being Jewish in America changes.

In seventh grade, when I attended Ann and Nate Levine Academy, a Jewish DaySchool in Dallas, our grade went on a trip to Washington D.C. and New York, and the boys had to wear a kippah. I had no idea how I had expected people would view me; however, I know I didn’t anticipate anything other than the occasional stare. Why would I? Jews have held a prominent role in America for hundreds of years, and we have a place in the culture and history.

So, it certainly caught me off guard when a few of my friends and I were in the hotel elevator, and an unassuming man, who we had spent an uneventful minute with, got off the elevator, turned around and said, “F***ing K*kes.” The slur was so archaic that I turned to my friends, confused about what

had just happened. “What did he say? Did he curse at us? Why? What does that even mean?” After one of them explained the meaning of what the man had just said, I didn’t know whether to feel disgusted, unsafe or indifferent.

This incident stands out to me as an example of the Anti-Semitism that very much still exists in America. We blend in until we don’t. When we wear kippahs, we’re harassed. When we go to the Jewish Community Center (JCC), we’re threatened.

JCCs across the country have received a string of bomb threats in recent months, including the JCC in Dallas. When we’re buried in Jewish cemeteries, we risk our tombstones being defaced like those in Philadelphia earlier this year. When Jewish journalists go on Twitter, they’re constantly

harassed and provoked by anonymous users whose sole use of Twitter is to spout hate.

I’d be lying if I said I experienced AntiSemitism regularly. In fact, this incident I had in seventh grade was the only real experience I can point to; though I’m sure those that wear their kippahs everyday can give a handful of examples. I recognize that there are races and other religions that face forms of racism and bigotry far more often.

However, it’s important to acknowledge that Anti-Semitism is as big a problem as it ever has been in the United States. We can’t normalize these incidents, as we shouldn’t for any form of racism. It’s our duty to stand up to Anti-Semitism and all other forms of hate because history tells us that simply doing nothing leads to issues far worse than a few hateful words on an elevator.

with monetary success and material possessions. At the time, I was young and naive. I was also struggling to understand how crucial it is to be yourself no matter what.

My birth mother came from Costa Rica and found my family in Dallas. She trusted that they would raise me with good morals and a strong identity that would allow me to be whomever I wanted to be - and they have. From my father, I have learned the importance of intellectual curiosity, intelligence and have been given the gift of Judaism. From my mother I have learned the beauty of being a caring person. From my older brother, I have been taught the power of innocence, and never-ending kindness.

At 5:30 in the morning on July 11, 1998

in a delivery room at Doctors Hospital, my parents were bestowed the gift of a little girl.

At that same moment, in the same delivery room at Doctors Hospital, my birth mother gave away her baby girl.

The convoluted effects of my birth have plagued me since I was young. Yet as I have grown older, and my identity has begun to form, I have become my own person, incorporating traditions from my family and from a women I have never met. I am similar to my parents, but I am not them, I have the blood from my birth mother but I am not her.

Discovering who you are is incredibly difficult, especially when you are growing up knowing nothing about your origin and heritage. As I struggled to discover who I

was and what my place was in this world, I began to understand what was important to me and what I wanted the world to know about me.

In the summer of 2014, I spent a month in Costa Rica on a community service trip. On the trip, I turned 16, and in Costa Rica, I began to discover what made me happy and who I wanted to be. Rather than focusing on the material possessions I had in Dallas, I focused on connecting with my Latina heritage, surrounded by a culture I’ve never experienced. I began my journey in discovering the impact my birthmother’s decisions have left on my life, and who I want to become.

Concerns of a Jewish-American

I have white privilege. Being white in America is easy: it doesn’t come with suspicious glances, racial slurs and “random” security checks in the airport, all of which are forms of racism and prejudice. Most Jews in America have this privilege. However, when we put on a kippah, or yarmulke, everything

Who am I?

Five years ago, I sat in Peggy Turlington’s 8th grade history class and declared my life goal was to marry a billionaire and move to an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean named Annika Land. For much of my life, my perception of happiness correlated

Bursting bubbles and crossing lines

I first saw Tomi Lahren as a guest on Trevor Noah’s The Daily Show and I was delighted to find a young conservative woman who was not afraid to speak her mind. Although I disagreed with some of her comments on the show, particularly about the Black Lives Matter movement, she offered a fresh voice and a commitment to bursting “your media bubble.” I stalked her Facebook page, and it was clear then that she was the alt-right conservative I’d been looking for.

As an unapologetic liberal, and a Muslim, I am not Tomi Lahren’s target audience. Her show on TheBlaze attracts

mostly young conservatives who have a disdain for all things liberal and an inherent suspicion of the federal government. That is not me. However, I think it is vital to understand philosophies different from our own. Issues exist because there are two valid, opposing arguments. When I first discovered her, I hoped Lahren could be the needle I needed to burst my liberal bubble.

However, after months of watching her “Final Moments” videos on Facebook, I concluded that Tomi Lahren was not who I thought she was. Yes, she was fiery.

Yes, she was a conservative. Yes, she was unapologetic about her beliefs. However, her “beliefs” mostly towed “Trump Republican” party lines, and failed to show any clear ideology. Her arguments were all presented rashly without any real rationale. Instead of finding a conservative who I could count on for a clearly articulated opinion on an issue, I found someone who “revved up” her base in order to gain a reaction and incite outrage.

Furthermore, no one agrees with 100 percent of any party’s platform, and Tomi never strayed from saying what her audience expected her to. Tomi either could not, or

did not want, to think for herself.

Fast forward a few months, and Tomi lost her show on TheBlaze. How did Glenn Beck’s protégé who brought the largest audience to his multi-media platform get fired? By thinking for herself. Instead of following her party’s stance on abortion, she announced on The View that she was prochoice.

“I can’t sit here and be a hypocrite and say I’m for limited government but I think the government should decide what women do with their bodies,” said Tomi. “I’m for limited government, so stay out of my guns, and you can stay out of my body as well.”

For the first time, Tomi wasn’t afraid to say what she really thinks. And she got fired as a result.

We as a nation need to stop penalizing people for not following one ideology or one platform to its core. We are all individuals who have the capacity to think critically and creatively. When an issue arises, instead of turning to the “liberal or conservative” side, we should strive to examine the arguments and make a conclusion based on what we think is right, not what our party or

audience think is right. To do anything less is to assume that we are unable to think for ourselves.

Hyper-partisan politics are not going away. With increased choice in media consumption, Americans can now choose what news they intake, allowing them to listen to only one side of the story. This leads to miscommunication, misinformation and a general distrust of the “other.” An “us versus them” mentality is not a healthy way for Americans to view politics. Politics should be about discourse, respecting diverse views and working together to find viable solutions.

The only way this is possible is if we critically evaluate our politics. This means “bursting our media bubbles” in order to understand all sides of an issue. It also means being brave enough to step away from an ideology if it does not align with our values. Painting caricatures of certain groups and ourselves is unfair and in turn, decreases our humanity, because our ability to relate to each other is the very essence of what makes us human.

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Everpurple

And the prank awards go to...

1. Best for clean teeth: take out the centers of Oreos and replace with toothpaste, creating fresh breath and a minty smile.

2. Best use of school supplies: cover your friend’s locker, car, desk or walls in common office supplies, i.e. post-it notes, construction paper and cling wrap.

3. Best expression of fangirling: cover your parents’ belongings in pictures of your favorite artist, singer or movie star. Share the love!

4. Best classic trick: this fit-fora-movie prank involves covering your friend’s items in jello. Delicious and the OG! 5. Best to ruin breath: cover onions in caramel to create the illusion of caramelized apples. Then, run away before your friend hits you.

6. Best slippery stunt: put Vaseline all over a doorknob. Laugh as your friends try in vain to open the door.

7. Best invisible trick: coat bar soap in clear nail polish, and make the poor subject wonder why their soap hates them so much.

8. Best prank to invoke musophobia (fear of rats): buy a lot of fake rats and cover your teacher’s cubicle with them. Then, watch your grades slip.

SUPER-PEACOCK CONTROLS GRAVITY After wandering into the science building on April first, Greenhill peacock Elvis gained extraordinary powers. Now, with no more than a shimmy of his feathers, the bird can defy and control gravity.

According to junior Allie Frymire, when he first walked into her Physics C class, she was amused, but before long she was in awe.

“It appears Elvis obtained these supernatural abilities through science we have yet to discover and the power of learning,” said Upper school Science teacher, Nicholas Park.

The Evergreen reached out to some of Elvis’s peers for comment; however, they have yet to respond.

The peacock’s newfound abilities indicate a definite change for Greenhill.

“Now that we have a super-peacock on campus, most peahens can’t help falling in love with Elvis. They really want him to be their ‘Teddy Bear,’” said next year’s Interim Head of Upper School Trevor Worcester.

Still, Elvis’s transformation has sparked controversy, and not all believe it is for the best.

After an incident involving flying scrambled eggs in the cafeteria, some believe this bird needs to stay off campus or learn to master his

After years of making cakes for advisees, flipping hamburgers for Homecoming and baking for the entire high school, Upper School Dean of Students Jack Oros has decided to turn in his two week notice in order to create, produce and star in his own cooking show.

“I love this school, the students and my advisees, but now I need to cook up the next chapter in my life. I’m excited to announce that two cooking channels are vying to air my new show!” said Mr. Oros.

His new show, which he affectionately calls “Life is a Cakewalk”, is about his country-wide tour of American bakeries, critiquing and giving advice to subpar bakers.

“I sometimes make them cry, but they know that it’s all in good fun. If they can’t take the heat, then they shouldn’t be in the kitchen,” he said.

As a condition of leaving Greenhill, Mr. Oros has agreed to bring one lucky Greenhill student to go visit a bakery with him, intern at the channel’s headquarters as an official taster and be an extra in other baking shows every month.

And that’s not all, this student will also receive an annual stipend of fifty dollars, and an extra ten dollars if the student works efficiently and tweets out every one of the show’s announcements from their own personal

Youngsters hold dabathon to fundraise for roach sanctuary

Pranking Purplehill since always ;)

Graphic by Drake Heptig

powers before anything goes wrong.

“I’m concerned about the safety of students with this super-peacock roaming around campus,” said senior Cameron Potter.

On the other hand, Elvis has exciting times ahead of him.

“I really just want him to strike fear in his enemies, so I made sure to include lots of sparkles,” said junior Sarah Nunez-Lafontaine, his costume designer.

When asked to comment, Elvis only had one thing to tell the school.

“April Fools!” he said.

OROS RESIGNS AMID COOKING CONTROVERSY

[Fake] [No] Views News[!]

Smelly fish pickling trends in Middle School

wednesday, april 19, 2017

Feat.

[Smell]

Teachers find alien technology in lounge

account.

“I’ve cooked up a really sweet deal, I get to do what I love and teach others my ways. If I could give one piece of advice to the students, it would be to keep baking and not believe everything they hear,” he said. “April Fools!”

Graphic by Drake Heptig Photo by Simra Abedi

[F]Arts

Hauntings in MPAC dramatically frighten the drama students

Sports [& dorks]

Greenhill fencing team defeats notorious Yugoslavian former champs

111 Everpurple Road, the stars, outer space