Evergreen THE
November 6, 2013 Volume XLVIX, Issue 2
Changes On the Horizon
Greenhill announces $52.5 million campaign to build new Performing Arts facilities. p. 12-13 Photo courtesy of Melissa Orth
STATE OF THE ART: After four years of groundwork and deliberation, administrators and trustees announced in October the largest construction undertaking in school history. Set to be completed in the fall of 2015, the project will include a brand-new Performing Arts and Assembly Center, as well as renovations to the dining facilities and athletic fields.
For teacher, history holds court
PRICELESS
reading about the fall of the Berlin wall and America’s involvement in the Gulf War. He was beginning to become interested in politics. “When I started to learn about what was going on, I started to connect the dots,” he said. Now Chair of the History Department, Mr. Cotton has an intense passion for history that carries him throughout the day. At 5 a.m. he is most likely running on the treadmill and listening to the political podcast Left, Right and Center. Once on campus, he begins teaching his first period class, “Understanding 9/11.” His inspiration for the class came from an experience he had on Sept. 11, 2001. Mr. Cotton recalls being a teacher at Richardson High School and adjusting his curriculum to account for what was happening after the attacks on the World Trade Center. “I started to go to the white board and just teach about it,” Mr. Cotton said. “My class was interested in Al-Qaeda, terrorism
and the Middle East. When I started thinking about 9/11 in relation to history, I realized that this could be a really powerful course.” He has taught the trimester class on 9/11 for nine years and this year offered an additional 9/11 class through the Global Online Academy, open to students internationally. Somewhere during his busy day, Mr. Cotton also teaches a history elective class on human rights. “I feel that issues like human rights are an important addition to the Greenhill curriculum,” he said. “It has also been a new challenge for me.” Mr. Cotton makes a serious effort to bring guest speakers to his classroom. “It is kind of humbling, because students always choose field trips or guest speakers as their favorite parts of a class. I do it because students appreciate it,”
News A Raisin in the Sun
Features Storm Chaser
Special Report 50 Years Later
Arts Inside the Cave
Sports SPC Traditions
Double Truck editor Christian Holmes details the Upper School’s trip downtown to see A Raisin in the Sun at the Wyly Theatre. p. 4
Editor-in-Chief Rachel Diebner sits down with Greenhill senior and resident meteorologist Nick Kraus to get the forecast. p. 8
Half a century after the tragedy in Dallas, Arts Editor Sanah Hasan explores Greenhill connections to JFK and that fateful day in 1963. p. 14
For AP Art students, the secluded cove that is the AP art room is the center of campus. Assistant Features Editor Christina Zhu reports. p. 16
Design Editor Laura Arnold talks to fall athletes about their teams’ ritual routines in the days leading up to SPC Championship weekend. p. 19
Shruti Rao Views Editor
During his freshman year at Georgia Institute of Technology, Scott Cotton noticed a student reading a book about the Middle East in the middle of math class. He leaned over and whispered a question. Later, he learned that the book was for a history class. He borrowed it and became fascinated by the connections between international relations, politics and government. “I can major in this?” he remembers thinking. Back in high school, Mr. Cotton hated history. “I felt like I was just memorizing dates and information,” he said. In fact, his high-school career was largely devoted to being an athlete. He graduated a trimester early in order to spend more time practicing tennis and preparing to play on the Georgia Tech tennis team. During that trimester, his mother made him read the newspaper to keep his brain active, and it worked. Mr. Cotton recalls
Director of Security Ralph Price poised to leave Greenhill this month after more than eight years of service. Staff Writer Ben Schachter reports. p. 7
cont’d on page 11
Also in this issue...
Serving Greenhill since 1966
4141 Spring Valley Road, Addison, TX 75001
evergreengreenhill.wordpress.com