October 2015 | The Evergreen, Greenhill School

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Everything Greenhill

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Graphic by Arhum Khan

Debate Debunked

*Dates since Greenhill Debate’s first State Championship with Aaron Timmons

The culture of debate is explored through the eyes of the Greenhill community Varun Gupta

They practice well into the night and drink tons of water before tournaments. But rather than receiving baked sweets from cheerleaders or getting an ovation for winning, the debate team often goes unnoticed, many times missing days of school before trophies display their accomplishments.

Debate is an activity so deeply sewn into Greenhill’s historical tapestry that many students forget the roots of a nationally ranked program. For years, Greenhill debaters have gone on to top tier colleges. The athletes play year round, and many debaters call their passion a sport.

But being a nationally ranked debate team, like any other elite sport, requires commitment. Upper School students readily admit it requires a type of dedication they are not willing to make. Director of Debate, Aaron Timmons, who has been at the helm of turning out these champions for more than two decades, recognizes all the work it takes to win.

Nevertheless, many debaters say they receive far more from his guidance and the activity overall than they might otherwise glean from living an average teenage life.

Like a high school basketball team that sends players to University of North Carolina, for students, the lure of national recognition on Greenhill debate makes the intense dedication it requires hard to turn down.

The Greenhill debate team won more than a dozen regional and national events last season, capturing second place at the National Debate Coaches

Associations National Tournament and third at the National Speech and Debate Associations National Championship.

In the past 20 years, Greenhill’s debate team has placed consistently in the top 5 state-wide, and is close to winning 20 state championships since the start of the program.

Debate is typically a full year course. The team competes at two levels –novice and varsity.

Freshman typically make up the novice group, and learn the fundamentals of debate. They often do research for the older varsity groups who are bringing back big trophies.

As debaters advance, they can increase commitment as well.

Mr. Timmons runs after-school practices for juniors and seniors.

Varsity debaters travel up to nine times per year, flying all over the country to places such as Chicago, Las Vegas and Kentucky.

Mr. Timmons recommends that the more advanced students go to debate camp that can range from two to seven weeks in the summer.

In addition to these time commitments, debaters have mental and physical demands too. While they don’t spend hours in the weight room, jaws get a workout. Much like an elbow injury to a tennis player, a jawline fracture can challenge a debater’s ability to give a speech.

Then there is mental toughness. A variety of factors, such as the speed of speech and judging style, contribute to their record. A speech must be persuasive, but some judges favor the latest speaking strategies while others value traditional ones.

As a result, judging can be

subjective. Debaters may practice endlessly, but still face losses they find unfair.

“Having to adapt to different styles of judging makes you a good debater. If you can only debate in front of one kind of judge, you’re going to lose a lot of rounds,” said junior Brooke Bulmash.

Understanding how to handle a tough loss is key to moving forward in a tournament.

“When you lose a round at the start or middle of the tournament, you can’t fixate over it; you just have to go back in and beat people,” said senior Bennett Eckert. “I can live with this; I can move past this because it was my bad and there was nothing for me to be angry at anyone other than myself.”

For successful top-tier competitors, outcomes of local tournaments significantly impact their chance to qualify for the Tournament of Champions (TOC).

While the stakes are high, debaters cannot let a dent on the record crack his or her confidence.

“You have to learn how to lose graciously, as much as winning graciously,” Brooke said.

As the team continues to cement championships, some nondebaters believe the ‘sport’ takes over debaters’ lives. By choice or by force, debaters are debaters, and that’s all, they say.

“I think [debaters] are determined and smart people, but I feel they are secluded and isolated from the community because they have to focus of their work, which is really important,” said senior Nitish Jindal, who does not debate.

Aware of the sentiment, debaters will say the activity is more of an advantage.

“[The student body] definitely sees it more as a threat than something you get to enjoy participating in,” said freshman debater Chris Eckert. Chris adds that the debate team’s commitment has some negative connotations at Greenhill, a community that puts a high emphasis on being involved in many different parts of the school.

Mr. Timmons says the perception is wrong.

“I highly encourage people to try out sports, particularly at a younger age because…after a couple of years you may have to modify,” he says.

But not every debater makes these sacrifices. Some team members, like Brooke, swim on the club and school team yearround and participates in LincolnDouglas tournaments.

“Debate is very stressful.

Swimming keeps me leveled and debate gives me a competitive edge. Both of them complement each other,” Brooke said.

Andrew Spomer ’13 played varsity soccer and debated on the top Policy team in his senior year. At the end of his senior year, Andrew had to choose between attending his last Southern Preparatory Conference (SPC) tournament in soccer and the Harvard Debate Tournament.

Andrew chose debate.

“I began to love debate more than I had ever loved soccer,” said Andrew. “It is not a binary choice, but rather a gradient of commitment.

Every single day of high school, I shifted my allegiance closer and closer to debate and farther from soccer, not because any teacher or coach forced me to, but because I wanted to.”

Andrew isn’t alone. Many debaters say they don’t mind making trade-offs such as missing school, sports events, and school dances to compete in tournaments.

Their absence means more makeup work, but debaters learn time management skills that enhance their academic experience, they say.

“That makes it significantly easier to sit down with an essay. I definitely think since my freshman year, my essay writing skills have improved greatly,” Brooke said.

In addition, tournaments serve as a mini-reunion place for debate friends from summer camp.

“You create tightly-knit friend groups around the nation so you get to socialize with them as well. So you have multiple friend groups,” said senior Varad Agarwala.

Still, Mr. Timmons stresses that to be a national champion, competitors in Advanced Debate need to be honest with thier goals.

In the same way [a coach] might tell a player that they can’t win SPC by just suiting up on Friday because they have some natural talent, the same would be true for any competitive activity,” Mr. Timmons said.

Nevertheless, the idea of success appeals to debaters who want to leave a mark on the Greenhill program.

“I find the back and forth intellectual warfare to be very interesting and the research process prior to the tournament as well,” said Varad. “The feeling of winning is incomparable.”

Views

News

Feat.

Arts

Sports

Special Report and Profiles Editor

What makes a student worthy of recognition? p.3

Behind the new health kick in The Buzz p. 5

Serving Greenhill since 1966

Transgender student shares his story. p. 8

Greenhill students take on Shakespeare in the Park p. 14

4141 Spring Valley Road, Addison, TX 75001

Middle School girls start their football career p. 17

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Views the

Rants & Raves A RAVE to the protein shakes in the High Performance Center. After finishing a grueling HPC strength training workout for a pre-season or in-season sport, protein shakes of all different varieties are offered. Finally, working out and satisfying your tummy can happen in the same 45 minute time period. And Coach Stringer will never let you forget that they are also lactose- free!

A RANT to the inconsistency of soap in the junior girls bathroom. In these dark and dreary times that we call “flu season”, basic sanitation is a must-have. But, without soap in the bathroom, it is extremely hard to meet these requirements. Flu isn’t the only thing it’s our duty to prevent—who knows how long it will take for the bubonic plague to make it’s way down from Michigan?

A RANT to the reappering potholes. We were going to rant about the potholes as you drive into Greenhill, but we’ve just been told that they have been fixed. Wait, never mind.

They’re back again.

A RAVE to the new panini presses. The hallmark of Crossman Dining hall is now available and ready for use. The panini press has lived up to its hype, attracting crowds that would make even Taylor Swift jealous. Look out AT&T stadium, the panini press is on its way.

A RAVE to the Upper School Facebook group. Just like this year’s homecoming theme, Upper School Student Council has taken us back in time to renew the Upper School announcement board Facebook group. The group keeps us up to date with on all things Big Green Nation (#RE). We beg everyone to not misuse the page like we misuse the mass email system.

A RANT to the freezing temperature. Climate change has been affecting our world for years now, but never has it been so close to home. As temperatures steadily increase in the world around us, Greenhill somehow manages to slip to Sub-Arctic temperatures. Please, Mother Nature, if you hear us, bring on Greenhill warming.

A RAVE to the new robotics room. One of Greenhill’s most successful programs now has a brand new room to call its own. Inside this room magical things occur that we thought were only possible by Will Smith in some alien movie. The robotics team is blowing our minds.

A RANT to the Middle School parking line. Every day at 4:00 there is a mass exodus out of the Greenhill parking lot.

Unfortunately, hard core Middle School mothers do not allow parked upper school vehicles to exit their parking spot. Please end this anarchical procedure now before we miss sports practice.

A RAVE to the dividers in the Upper School Boys bathroom. Thank you. The privacy was much needed.

Enough said.

Content courtesy of Zoe Allen and Abbas Hasan

Nonchalance in Non-Core Classes Recalling homework by listing off the core classes is easy. “Do I have homework in Spanish? English? Math? Science?

History?” It’s a simple checklist that we, as a community, have embraced. But once other classes are thrown in and extra-curriculars are added to the mix, the checklist isn’t as easy to memorize anymore.

The five class checklist works for most students trying to remember their most pressing and immediate homework assignments. This makes sense. After all, we expect nightly homework from our history classes, readings from our English classes, problem sets from our math classes, nightly work from our (modern and classical) language classes and review work for our science classes. But we don’t expect the

same level of homework or challenges from our “non-core” art classes or our computer classes. But we should.

We all have classes we don’t like, and we all have homework assignments that we wish we didn’t have to do, but the notion that a non-core class should, for whatever reason, have less homework than a core class is a mentality The Evergreen strongly advises against.

Part of the problem is the very naming used in describing classes. “Core” implies a sense of importance and significance, whereas “non-core” implies irrelevance.

When we view some courses as more important than others, we begin to expect that the “less-important” classes should be easier, and then when they aren’t, we are

annoyed by their difficulty.

When students expect a “non-core” class to be easy because of its “non-core” status, there is already a misunderstanding between the teacher and the student about class expectations. If the teacher anticipates each student to put forth effort, to truly try to learn new concepts, and to really push themselves in the class, while the student counts on an easy-A, obviously the only thing that can really be expected is turmoil.

We, The Evergreen staff, think that in order to improve our community relations, we need to make our expectations more realistic. “Non-core” classes should not be viewed as burdensome graduation requirements, but rather as classes

Staff Editorial important enough to be required.

So if you’re going to complain about homework, go for it. Greenhill is a challenging school and we are all sometimes overloaded with work. But don’t single out a “non-core” class for your complaints. They deserve to be treated better than that.

The Greenhill triangle displays a balance of academics, arts, and athletics, however sometimes we as students forget to recognize the two other aspects of our community. They’re integral to Greenhill’s values. After all, without arts and athletics, we would just be a line.

the

Evergreen staff editors-in-chief

content editor

Madison Goodrich Catherine Leffert

Mia Krumerman

managing editor

sports editors

design editor

asst. news editor

backpage editor

news editor

asst. arts editor

asst. online editor

Sophie Bernstein

Josh Rudner

copy editor

arts editors

views editors Areeba Amer Zayna Syed

asst. features editors

business manager

Zoe Allen Zach Rudner

Simra Abedi Radhe Melwani

Ryan Diebner

special report and profiles editor

features editor

online editors

asst. sports editor

advisor

Amna Naseem Christina Zhu

Varun Gupta

Megan Wiora

Ben Schachter

Ellen Margaret Andrews Joseph Weinberg Suman Chebrolu

Lane Hirsch Ben Krakow

Arhum Khan

Lili Stern

Abbas Hasan

Lauren Silva Laughlin

staff writers

Samar Ahmad Stephen Crotty Allie Frymire Maya Ghosh Christian Quintero Kathie Rojas Annika Squires Jordan Sternblitz Ross Rubin Kionce Woods Alice Zhang

staff artists

Sudeep Bhargava Anurag Kurapati Anusha Kurapati Adam Weider Avery Jane Williams

views 3 Evergreen What Makes a Student Worthy of Recognition?

wednesday, october 7 2015

the

This year, the GPA required to be eligible for Honor Roll in the Upper School rose from 3.0 to 3.5 and the High Honor Roll requirement increased from 3.5 to 3.67. As a result, less students will be recognized in the annual Pin Ceremony, a ceremony all Upper School students attend to recognize anyone who recieved High Honor Roll for the previous academic school year. This past Pin Ceremony, which took place on September 30, will be the last Pin Ceremony where the High Honor Roll cutoff is 3.5. This question is a followup to this change.

I believe that the Honor Roll requirements should never have been changed. Greenhill is already challenging enough. An increase in people achieving Honor Roll status is not a blemish on Greenhill’s reputation, but instead a remark on the will of Greenhill students to reach even higher despite being in a challenging environment.

Greenhill pamphlets and iconography like to boast the idea that academics, arts, and athletics each form a side of an equilateral triangle. While this is demonstrably false, this change seems to both increase the importance of focusing on academics, and decrease the rewards for attempting to find a more equal balance between the three. Also, many Greenhill kids already take very challenging classes that lower their overall GPA, but reward them in other ways for challenging themselves. I think if Greenhill really wants to raise the Honor Roll requirement they should attempt some system where honors and AP classes are compensated on their performance. It isn’t fair that one kid can take five regular classes and make a 3.7 and get High Honor Roll while a person who makes B pluses in 7 AP/honors classes has too low a GPA to reach High Honor Roll. Increasing the GPA requirements for Honor Roll seems illogical and counter to the identity of Greenhill.

What has been happening in recent years is that the number of pin recipients keeps increasing. There are about as many pin recipients in the 10th – 12th grade as non-pin recipients. And so, if we are trying to recognize exceptional academic performance, then we have to up the mark for GPA. We continue to evaluate the meaning and value of a Greenhill Pin. Currently, the handbook reads that a 3.67 or higher earns High Honor Roll status and an academic pin.

It is always tough to measure academic excellence solely by a high GPA. There are so many other factors that go into a student’s mastery of a course than assessments. What measures effort or genuine ability? An assessment may not get to that knowledge. Right now, we only have the GPA to measure academic achievement.

If students can come up with another way to recognize exceptional academic achievement, we are open to ideas. We are always assessing the things we do, so maybe it is time to ask, ‘Do we need to have an honor roll? Is a pin necessary?’

-Jack Oros, Upper School Student Dean

-Jackson Lowen, senior

Graphic By Avery-Jane Williams

Changing the High Honor Roll criteria from 3.5 to 3.67 is not as much of a concern to me as the actual Pin Ceremony. Only the students that achieved those criteria should attend the Pin Ceremony. It is very impressive and deserving of recognition when students earn a 3.5 or 3.67 GPA, but they do not need to be recognized in front of the entire student body. To some, GPAs are not as important – maybe they only focus on one specific subject, or maybe fine arts or athletics are more important to them. Also there are students who give their full effort, and work hard in all their classes, but they do not always end the year with a 3.5 GPA. These students should not have to sit through a ceremony awarding all the people who did achieve this GPA. The High Honor Roll students should receive pins and be recognized in front of their parents and faculty, but the students who didn’t receive pins should not be forced to attend the ceremony. The Pin Ceremony rightfully awards students, and the audience of the ceremony should not affect the merit of the pin.

-Meera Jayaseelen, sophomore

I think that what makes a student worthy of recognition is their dedication to something they are passionate about, whatever that may be. Although I recognize that in the “real world” grades and academic achievements are important, grades and curricular choices have different significance to everyone, and Greenhill should promote personal excellence over anything else. At a school like Greenhill that celebrates excellence, I think that a more diverse range of successes should be recognized. Although we have awards for fine arts, athletics, and community service, sometimes we get too caught up in the frenzy for academic recognition, and in an environment as intense as Greenhill, that can be harmful to the mental health of students. There is absolutely nothing wrong with desiring academic excellence, and it should be recognized, but it does not need to be the centerpiece of every student’s high school experience. We’ll all get into college eventually, and I would rather see my friends pursue something meaningful in high school instead of filling their schedules with AP classes they don’t care about and stressing themselves out simply to achieve “academic excellence.”

Recognition is such a touchy subject, as, within its own definition, it contains different meanings. Special notice for one person may be for their academic accomplishment, but, for another, “special notice” might be for their outstanding performance, or for their dedication to an activity, or even for standing out from their peers in a choice.

Does a student work for a high GPA, for the sake of Honor Roll recognition, or for other reasons? When someone comes to EXPECT recognition because of achieving a standard, is the entire point of the recognition lost? And, when more and more students are achieving that standard, does it become a special recognition? Shouldn’t the standard increase?

As a veteran teacher, I can attest that Greenhill isn’t the only school who has increased the required Honor Roll GPA over the past few years. More students are scoring higher GPAs. Maybe THAT should be the topic of discussion?

-Laura Hudec, Middle School and Upper School Latin teacher

-Julia Halm, junior

Dear Editor,

My name is Kailey McNeal and I am a junior. To most people who know me, I am the psycho, animal-loving, people-hating vegan who shoves her views down others’ throats with relentless effort.

But that’s not the whole story.

First, I don’t hate people, but I do think that people and non-human animal lives are equal, which is frequently equated to human hating. If you are one of the people who think that, then I believe you are a speciesist.

Let’s take a step back. People often hear me throw around the term “speciesism,” but most people either have no idea what it is or don’t see the problem with it.

Speciesism is the belief that humans are superior to other species, solely because they are humans. Like racism and sexism, speciesism devalues the lives of other species, taking away their moral rights.

The truth is that most humans are speciesists whether they like it or not.

Speciesists aren’t necessarily animal abusers or animal haters, but rather people who think that their life is more important

than a non-human animal’s life.

This prejudice is demonstrated when we refer to one of our peacock friends as “it,” internalizing our view of them as things rather than living beings or when we choose to buy those super cute leather boots, thinking that our fashion statements are more important than the life of the cow we paid to have murdered.

It’s also demonstrated when we buy puppies from Petland, supporting the idea that pets are ours to irresponsibly breed and sell. And it’s apparent even at Greenhill, when we dissect fetal pigs, yet cringe at the thought of those same dissections being performed on humans, as if our suffering is more abhorrent.

But even if you’ve fallen into any of these categories, you aren’t evil or a lost cause. Like all of us, you are trained to believe that because non-human animals

can’t solve a quadratic equation or talk that somehow it means that their lives are less important.

Intelligence (though other species have lots of it) isn’t what determines life value. All life is valuable and all sentient beings (yes, non-human animals are sentient) should be valued. I’m not asking you all to become vegans (though if you’re interested in trying it, definitely talk to me) or to protest in front of Petland. I’m asking you remove your speciesist lens and make a conscious decision to value all lives equal.

With this year’s theme being compassion, which also happens to be one of Greenhill’s core principles, it’s important that we not just focus on compassion towards people, but compassion towards all living beings.

News the

See p. 6 for more on Middle School classes using technology.

New School Year, New School Rules New Middle School policies give more freedom to students while other policies set more restrictions Areeba Amer Views Editor

Sophie Bernstein Asst. Arts Editor

Imagine: a Middle School student sits comfortably in her leggings and tanktop at lunch, while uncomfortably eating with her teacher and peers at her assigned table.

This school year, the concept of autonomy was introduced to the Middle School, spurring many changes. Administrators eased the dress code, students now have a new technological policy (more on this on page 6), study hall rules have been relaxed for the eighth grade, and teachers are trying to make the classroom more student-oriented.

At the same time, administration has implemented assigned seating during lunch.

Third through eighth grades are required to sit at assigned tables with a faculty member at each table.

For some students, these two changes seem contradictory: some shifts create more choice, while others take it away.

However, for Middle School, administrators say that the balance between independence and strutcure is hard to strike.

“So much of this is about giving the kids an opportunity to make the right choices,” said eighth grade team leader, Gregg Ross. “The idea…isn’t about taking away something…but adding the ability to connect with students who you wouldn’t normally spend time with.”

In particular, the dress code elicited some strong debate among the faculty. This year there is no restriction for inseam cutoff for bottoms, or shoulder strap width for girls’ shirts. Also, athletic shorts and leggings are now permitted.

According to administrators, the dress code is less gender-biased and makes the students more aware of what they are wearing.

While the dress code may appear to be like the current Upper School dress guidelines, the philosophy behind it is different.

The idea is to make the students more aware of how they present themselves to people.

“Our dress code is very broad and allows kids to think about how they are going to be presented at school that day in terms of their clothing,” said Head of Middle School Susan Palmer. “Are they going to be dressed in a way that they can fully participate in an active learning day, that they can play in the gaga pit, that they can climb all over the lockers for a science experiment?

You want kids to think through that and then make good choices for themselves.”

As a result, many students are using this new dress code to

Graphic By Anurag Kurapati

be comfortable in school and are enjoying it.

“I think it’s great because everyone can show what they want to wear and be comfortable throughout the day,” said seventhgrader Preston Gerard.

Administrators also adjusted study hall this year to help provide more variety in study methods. Rather than strictly silent classrooms, students now have the option of working in groups.

Eighth grade advisor, Jaye Andrews, originally thought of this idea when visiting colleges with his daughters. The libraries there would often have multiple floors with designated purposes.

One may be for collaborative work while another would be strictly silent.

“The [collaborative] rooms

have been a moderate success,” said Mr. Andrews. “There is some collaborative work occuring in there… and some students are making a reasonable attempt at completing homework though others are mostly chatting with their friends. That has been a bit challenging to police. “ This change allows students to find which learning environment works best for them through trial and error. “[This new philosophy of autonomy] has made us more open to try something like this,” said Mr. Andrews. “It gave them more courage for something like this.

That it’s in the air we are breathing as a faculty to give students a chance to make more of their own choices and determine their own destiny a little more.“ This philosophy has gone

beyond dress code and study hall.

Some teachers in the Middle School have been executing techniques to encourage this concept of studentfriendly learning.

“

I think it’s great because everyone can show what they want to wear and be comfortable throughout the day.”

“I think allowing students to take more ownership of their learning is important,” said Middle School Latin teacher Joan Romanosky. “It’s important for them to… have control of what they learn so that if they want to do better, they can control that.

They can take initiative for that.”

Middle School students

have embraced these changes.

However, they are more resistant to the changes to lunch. The students are required to sit at assigned tables with assigned teachers at each one. These seating arrangements rotate as the year goes by.

“They gave us freedom for one thing but took away freedom for the next. That’s kind of stupid, because when you are trying to give people more freedom, trying to take it away is like a trade-off,” said seventhgrader Sophie Gomez.

For example, when a group of seventh-graders were asked about their opinion of the assigned seating, they immediately replied in unison: “Oh my god I hate it,” or “It’s awful,” or “We don’t get to see our friends!”

At the same time, some of those same students do acknowledge that the assigned seating is effective.

“I feel like the assigned seating with the teachers [during lunch] is both good and bad, because you do get to know everyone a little bit better, but you don’t really get to talk freely about what you would like to talk about,” said eighth-grader Kate Franklin. “Lunch was one of the main times that we got to talk to our friends and stuff without having any real interruptions by a teacher, and now we can’t really talk to our friends that much, especially if we don’t have many classes with them.”

Faculty members explain that these changes allow the students to learn and grow from their experiences.

“Along with autonomy comes relationships, and we really felt that for these kids to be their best selves. They need to have strong student-teacher relationships, and student-student relationships.”

Mr. Ross, a strong advocate for this policy, explains that this experience helps the students learn valuable social skills. “[This is] about giving the kids the opportunity to grow as individuals, to strengthen their ties to the community, to figure out how to exist in Middle School and make it the best learning experience it can be,” Mr. Ross said. “It is about them figuring (Middle School) out for themselves.”

However, Middle School students are still skeptical.

“I don’t really agree with it just because lunch is the only time we get to interact with our friends, because now we only have a 20 min[ute] break,” said seventh- grader Lucas Henry. “So we don’t have enough time to interact with our friends. So I think we should be able to chose who we sit with.”

wednesday, october 7, 2015

the

Evergreen

news

5

Unhealthy Snacks Buzzed Away Ellen Margaret Andrews Sports Editor

It’s 3:30 in the afternoon, and dozens of Middle School students are hurrying towards The Buzz. They are famished after a long first day of school, and right now nothing sounds better than a cold Dr. Pepper or two Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. But when they get there, they immediately notice something different. They won’t find a Dr. Pepper, and if they want a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, they should probably go to the nearest gas station.

As of the 2015-2016 school year, Greenhill’s campus store The Buzz, is no longer carrying most candy items, soda, and other high-sugared snacks. Instead, the shelves are lined with healthier snacks. Chewy, fruity, protein bars sit where sweet candies once lay.

Teachers, administration, and even parents collectively decided to change the food selection in The Buzz.

After studies had shown the negative effects of too much sugar during a school day, the group decided it was time to make the change that many schools have already had for years.

Some students have grumbled about the lack of sugary snacks. Others welcome the change.

According to Campus Store and Purchasing Manager, Sharon Brewer, students have been reacting better to the drastic change.

“Some of the students are missing their Pop-Tarts and their Snickers candy bars. But I really haven’t heard about a whole lot of complaints. I mean they come in and say ‘what happened to it?’ and when it’s explained they go, ‘Ok’,” Mrs. Brewer said.

For freshman Ashley Isenberg, walking into The Buzz for the first time this school year was definitely not what she expected.

“When I was going into The Buzz to find a snack, I saw all these healthy options and I was really confused at first,” she said. “But then I realized how nice it was to have healthy options when you go in there so that you don’t always have to make an unhealthy choice.”

Melissa Orth, Greenhill’s Chief Financial Officer, as well as other members of the administration who contributed to the decision making process understood that the some students would not be thrilled with the change but thought it was important to take parents’ input into consideration.

“You kind of have two very different customers in trying to balance what students want and what

parents want for their children,” she said.

Even though many different snacks were taken out of the store, both Mrs. Brewer and Mrs. Orth believe the Buzz has a variety of foods and drinks from which students can pick.

“Greenhill is all about choices and we’re offering choices.

We are just offering healthier choices,” Mrs. Brewer said.

Mrs. Orth added that when making the decisions as to which foods they would sell at the Buzz, they kept not only the students’ health as a priority, but also their appetites.

“We didn’t want to make it all celery sticks and hummus,” she said. “We focused on trying to limit those things that are empty sugar, high in trans fat, or with a lot of preservatives. So you can see there might be chocolate, but it’s dark chocolate.”

Despite the fact that most students are fine with the change, some have expressed some disappointment.

“I want to be able to choose to eat unhealthy food. They shouldn’t be controlling my diet,” said junior Hudson Fernandes.

But for students like junior Kailey McNeal, the Buzz now offers more foods that she can eat.

“I can eat more things now because of most of their stuff is vegan friendly and before it wasn’t,” she said.

As for the future of The Buzz, Mrs. Orth expressed that the campus store’s food options will continue to evolve.

“I think over time we will tweak it just like we did when we first opened the campus store. We initially didn’t have a lot of things that we offer now,” she said. “We have adjusted our inventory based primarily on student and customer feedback, and not just the food offerings, but apparel and spirit items, as well. I think the same will happen.”

The Buzz: Then and Now Flamin’ Hot Cheetos Organic Jalapeno Chips Candy Bars

Kind Energy Bars

Regular Beef Jerky

Lowfat Protein Sticks

Soft Drinks

Glaceau FruitWater

Photos and Graphic by Suman Chebrolu

Photo by Adam Weider

A New Canvas for the Upper School Josh Rudner

Asst. Online Editor

Stephen Crotty Staff Writer

This year, after having used Blackboard and Portal, Greenhill began using Canvas, software that is designed to be efficient and user-friendly.

According to Chris Bigenho, the Director of Instructional Technology, the portal was designed as a way for teachers to communicate with parents and students.

Also, Blackboard’s high price and relative stagnation in development over the past few years influenced the decision to switch to a different program.

To determine which software the school would transfer to, Dr. Bigenho conducted a study of Greenhill teachers and their online preferences.

“I looked at what other schools were doing and kept a close finger on what was going on in the industry,” Dr. Bigenho said.

Once it was decided that Canvas was the best system for Greenhill, Dr. Bigenho spent the summer transferring material over from Blackboard and the Portal. He offered sessions before school started for teachers to build up their presence on Canvas.

Among the advantages of Canvas: it helps students organize their studies and deadlines in ways that the other technological portals could not, according to Mr. Bigenho.

It allows students to see a calendar with all their classes’ important dates. Students are also able to see their grades in each class as the school year progresses, allowing them to track their achievements.

One of the only complaints Dr. Bigenho has encountered is the amount of notifications people receive. He said that students have the ability to change the settings so that Canvas either sends out fewer emails, no emails, or even tweets at the students when there is a change in curriculum or when they receive a grade.

So far, some students have found the transition choppy. Sophomore Mason Marano says he sees the effectiveness of the tool, but that the familiarity with Portal and Blackboard from past years made the switch frustrating.

Overall, the teachers’ reactions have been mostly positive. Sarah Howell, Middle and Upper School teacher, sees this as an effective tool for her to communicate with her students, enabling her to stay in contact at all times about assignments.

“It’s very helpful, in terms of grading, in terms of announcements, and in terms of simply keeping in touch with students about expectations for class,” she said.

“Canvas is my favorite, especially when you compare it to portal,” said Upper School Spanish teacher Jacobo Luna. “But I still have problems with the grade book.”

Mr. Luna’s extensive use of the new software earned him an official Canvas water bottle, which Dr. Bigenho periodically gives out to teachers who master the program.

Students also find Canvas to be helpful.

“It is helpful for me to always be able to see what is going on. It offers some stability, as teachers are more consistent in how they keep in touch with students,” said sophomore Vivek Denkanikotte.

6 news

the

Evergreen

wednesday, october 7, 2015

Bring Your Own Tech New Middle School Technology Requirements Change Classroom Experience Joseph Weinberg

Sports Editor

When students think of back to school shopping, notebooks, folders, paper, and pencils fill their mind. However, Middle School students had to tweak their shopping approach this year. As for Middle School parents, back to school shopping may have been a little pricier this time around.

A new technology policy implemented in the Middle School now requires all sixth through eighth grade students to provide their own laptop for school. This change came after the administration realized many ways technology can enhance the classroom.

The number of students who already brought their own device to school on a daily basis also had a large influence on the Middle School administration’s decision to change their technology policy.

“Sixty to 70 percent of kids were coming with their own devices from home already and given that the year before, it became mandatory for ninth through 12th-grade students, we felt it made the most sense to switch to our current policy,” said Susan Palmer, Head of Middle School.

Last winter, an email was sent out to all Middle School families announcing the change. It allowed Middle School families an adequate amount of time to

make all the necessary adjustments, she says. The school now also provides laptops to Middle School students on financial aid, the same policy that Upper School students have.

Chris Bigenho, Director of Instructional Technology, was one of the faculty members who spearheaded the change for both the Middle School this year and the Upper School three years ago. He has conducted many surveys examining technology habits of students including the effectiveness of student-owned devices versus the school providing and regulating the laptops student use.

“There is a large body of research that points to students using technology more effectively when they personally own it and are more comfortable their own unique device,” Dr. Bigenho said. “It is all about having a choice.”

Chaka Cummings, sixth grade History teacher, is an avid user of technology and has chosen to incorporate the student’s personal devices every chance he gets.

“When I put together my lesson

Photos by Suman Chebrolu

CONNECT THE CLASSROOM: Sixth graders Ravi Ingle, Bennett Broadus, and Christopher Dycus (right) use a drone to take pictures of the school campus for a project. Chaka Cummings (left) uses his iPad to conduct his classroom lesson while his students use laptops.

plans, I always think of different ways I can use technology in a meaningful way,” said Mr. Cummings.

He believes his technological teaching approach is in his student’s best interest.

“I want to make sure that my students are prepared for the world they are going into and that world is one where they are expected to be fairly proficient in utilizing their technology for reasons besides just playing Minecraft or other games,” he said.

He hopes his students can be multi-faceted in using their devices and he sees his classroom as a way to experiment with different programs and help hone their skills.

“They are more than likely going to have to use their devices to communicate with each other, or manage a project in the future, and I think it is important that they begin practicing those skills as early as they can.”

With the new policy in place, the question arises of whether or not children will be losing valuable face-to-face contact time with his or her teacher.

However, Mr. Cummings thinks technology does the exact opposite.

“I had a student who was struggling to complete a major assignment overnight and we couldn’t settle the problem over email but I was able to FaceTime him and interface with the student to talk and work through the issue,” he said. “Technology in this case allowed me to work with a student at 7:00 at night when normally it would have turned into an overnight issue potentially causing stress or anxiety.”

Features the

See p. 9 for more on musical sophomore Sudeep Bhargava

Serving Diversity?

With lunch now included in tuition, Greenhill attempts to meet different students’ dietary needs Christina Zhu Copy Editor

Zayna Syed Views Editor

Greenhill students’ lunch preferences are almost as diverse as the student body itself. With the new changes in lunch, administrators grapple with trying to find ways to please everybody, while some students still feel left in the lurch.

Beginning this year, students are paying an extra $750 to $900, depending on grade level, in tuition in order to accommodate Greenhill’s new lunch. The payment is mandatory, and the change comes as a result of the Greenhill administration wanting consistency in the number of people they serve, enhancing quality of food while still keeping costs down, improving relationships through family style dining, and creating a more efficient flow through the cafeteria.

“We have always recognized the importance of a diverse menu, even before we implemented community dining,” said Melissa Orth, Chief Financial Officer.

“However, now that we are feeding almost all students daily, we have an even greater responsibility for making sure we have considered the needs of all constituents in our community, including food allergies, sensitivities and preferences.”

In an attempt to serve Greenhill’s diverse population, the administration has had to take into account the different restrictions students have on their diets to create a menu that the majority of students can eat.

“We’ve had the question asked about the foods that different religious groups are not allowed to eat so it was really posed in the fashion of, ‘when there is pork please be sure there is a viable option that a lot of kids would like,’” said Ms. Orth.

Greenhill’s administration has faced obstacles while trying to select a menu that is conscious of students’ dietary restriction and pleases all students.

“It is hard, because there’s

Photos by Varun Gupta

CONSISTENT COOKING: Junior Rachel Friedman (above) takes her turn getting served some of SAGE’s daily food options. With lunch now part of the tuition, more students are eating school lunches than in previous years. This has provided the lunch staff with a more consistent number of students to expected to eat daily.

not that many proteins out there that every kid will eat. You know, you put chicken on the menu seven to five days a week…

Some people aren’t going to be happy,” said Kim Rojas, SAGE Assistant Food Services Director.

“So you try to roll pork in, people aren’t happy. You try to roll beef in, people aren’t happy, because they don’t eat red meat. So that’s a challenge, trying to come up with different proteins that’ll appeal to everybody.”

However, Greenhill’s facilities aren’t able to accommodate all eating restrictions, according to Ms. Orth.

“We obviously cannot keep

Common Dietary Restrictions at Greenhill

kosher in the way that you would keep a kosher kitchen, where there is no crossing of the meat and dairy products. Our facility would just not accommodate that,” Ms. Orth said.

“

I had nothing to eat, and I’m sad, and I’m hungry, and I had to eat cookies for lunch.”

But she admits she is no expert regarding kosher kitchens and what accommodations they need, or if there even is a

Kashrut

Kashrut (the noun form of kosher) is the body of Jewish law that deals with which foods Jews are able to eat and how these foods have to be prepared and eaten. All foods are divided into three categories: meat, milk, and pareve (fruit, wheat products, fish, etc.). Meat and milk cannot be mixed with each other, but can be eaten with pareve foods. Some foods like pork and shellfish are explicitly forbidden; whereas others, like chicken and beef, are Kosher only if they are slaughtered and prepared correctly.

standard for all.

This may pose issues to students who wish to keep their dietary restrictions, or even inhibit them from doing so.

“It’s very possible that students are kind of intimidated by the cafeteria, because they know that the meat in the cafeteria is probably not kosher, and so I think that it forces students who want to keep kosher to be vegetarian or bring their own lunch, in which case, students may not remain kosher,” said junior Lauren Stock.

Even though it is not possible to accommodate all eating restrictions, Greenhill’s

Veganism According to the Vegan Society, veganism is a way of living which seeks to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Dietary restrictions for vegans include dairy, eggs, meat, and fish. Vegans choose to not wear or buy any object causing harm to an animal such as leather and ivory products. *These rules and restrictions are common to most vegans; however, these do not strictly apply to all vegans.

administration solicits feedback from families and students to make sure they are meeting their needs.

“We basically ask, “what do you eat at home, that can be purchased?” Is it a kosher hot dog, or kosher chicken? So families come to us, and we just ask, what do you eat at home? We get Hebrew National [a brand that sells kosher meats] quite a bit. You know what, I think we’ve brought them in when they’re specifically requested. Like for the school-wide cookouts, we bring them in. But we could bring them in more often,” Ms. Rojas said.

While Greenhill looks for ways to include all students, some students still feel that their restrictions aren’t being considered when they walk up to the food lines.

“Vegetarian food should just be more of a staple, because meat eaters can eat vegetarian food and vegetarians cannot eat meat. They had a small amount of vegetarian rice, for example, at lunch today, and it was all gone before I got to it.

And I had nothing to eat, and I’m sad, and I’m hungry, and I had to eat cookies for lunch. Also, vegetarians eat more than just vegetables. Stop just giving us grilled vegetables and assuming we’re going to enjoy that because no,” said a vegetarian student who wishes to remain anonymous.

Freshman Anaah Abedi only eats zabiha-halal meat, or meat that is cut in accordance with Islamic standards. While she understands that it would not be possible to fully accommodate her dietary needs, she wishes that halal meat would be offered occasionally.

“I think it would be a good idea for them to have halal food occasionally, maybe like once or twice a month,” Anaah said.

But whether you love the cafeteria food, or hate it, Greenhill welcomes parents, students, or faculty alike to express their opinions.

“I’m always open for suggestions, if y’all want anything,” Ms. Rojas said.

Halal The Islamic Society of North America defines halal as “permissible or allowed according to Allah and the Prophet Muhammad.” Zabiha halal is the process of slaughtering a halal animal according to the Islamic method.

This includes saying the name of God as a reminder to humans that they do not have the right to take an animal’s life without permission and using a sharp blade to slaughter the animal in order to minimize pain and unnecessary suffering.

contributed by Josh Rudner and Zayna Syed

8 features

the

Evergreen

wednesday, october 7, 2015

Finding His Place

Greenhill’s welcomes first openly transgender student to Upper School Zoe Allen Arts Editor

Kids love dress-up games: a princess, a knight, a rock star, or even a professional athlete. For a time, kids are transformed into something else, a person completely different from themselves.

But when sophomore Sloan Touchet looked at his child self in the mirror, he didn’t see himself.

The only time he felt like himself, in fact, was when he was dressing up. Rather than transform into a superhero, like most four-year-old kids, Sloan would put on dress ups and feel at ease.

Sloan donned his brother’s clothes and even cut off all his hair.

But these acts were no façade; they were a part of who he truly was.

Sloan Touchet is navigating new territory for Greenhill.

Starting this summer, he announced his official transition process from female to male. This process was preceded by months of work disassociating himself from gender altogether.

Sloan is considered transgender, which means that he has experienced a mismatch between his gender identity and his assigned sex.

(Gender is what you choose to identify as, and sex refers to the sex organs that you are born with).

Sloan said he was four years old when he started disassociating from the female sex.

“One of my earliest memories was when I was looking at myself in the mirror and I [said] ‘that’s not me, that’s not who I am’”, said Sloan. “I looked like a little girl with long blond hair, and I just didn’t think that that was who I was.”

In fourth grade, Sloan started wearing his brother’s clothes and cut his hair in a traditional “boyish” haircut.

When he had the opportunity to pick his own clothes, he always chose his brother’s handme-downs.

Over the 2014-2015 school year, he began to disassociate himself from gender.

He asked friends to use gender-neutral pronouns such as “they” or “them”.

He was trying to become himself, he said. Sloan describes this part of the process as “gender dysphoria”.

“It’s always been a little thing in my mind, I just didn’t know it was gender dysphoria until recently,” said Sloan. “I’ve known that I didn’t want to identify as female for awhile now, I just didn’t know that I wanted to identify as male.”

Prior to Sloan’s transition, Greenhill never had a policy about transgender students in place. To this day, there still is no policy.

“We have not written an official policy,” said Laura Ross, Head of the Upper School. “Our policy is just our Greenhill mission, to be an inclusive community for all people.”

Last year, Mrs. Ross and Head of School, Scott Griggs, spent time at conferences and reading up on gender dysphoria. After attending the conference, they realized that there was bound to be a transgender student at Greenhill sometime soon.

Sloan’s parents, Kassandra McLaughlin and Michelle Touchet, said that the most difficult part of his transition might be remembering to use the right

pronouns.

“You have to really think about how this person is not a different person, even though this person is [transgender],” said Ms. Touchet.

According to Sloan and his family, Greenhill has handled his situation with all means to preserve Sloan’s dignity and rights.

“We’ve talked to other parents who are in similar situations [with transgender kids], and by far Greenhill is the most active and doing the best job of creating a scenario that is supportive,” said Ms. McLauglin.

“My name, gender, and email were changed in Senior Systems,” said Sloan. “Greenhill has been amazing.”

Sloan said that the most difficult part of his transition might be watching the people who have known him for his whole life rewire their brains for his situation.

Many people have said that they sometimes forget to use the proper pronouns when addressing Sloan.

He has not encountered any face-to-face issues of transphobia or prejudices against him being transgender.

“I try not to surround myself with people who aren’t supportive,” said Sloan.

“Everybody’s great. I’m having a great transition.”

On the first day of school, Sloan was reintroduced to each of the Upper School classes as his “new” self. He received applause, and even general confusion as to why he was being introduced.

“I actually had some students who [said] ‘why did they have to make such a big deal about it, it’s just Sloan!’” said Mrs. Ross.

Photo by Sudeep Bhargava

HELPING HIMSELF: Sloan Touchet is Greenhill’s first openly transgender student. After dealing with gender dysphoria since he was four, he publicly annouced his transitioning from female to male this summer.

She said she found this very heartening.

Sloan, and many others, has seen people work hard to adapt to his situation and support him.

“I’ve had teachers come to me and say, ‘am I doing this right?’ and really asking questions,” said Mrs. Ross. “Supportive questions, because they want to get it right.”

Even though Sloan’s gender has changed, his personality has not been dramatically altered in any way.

“I’m still the same kid. The only thing that has change is my name and pronouns, and how my brother tells me to ‘stop washing my face if I want to be a guy’” Sloan said.

Coming to America: Vietnamese Exchange Student Enrolls at Greenhill Simra Adebi

Asst. Features Editor

Kien Pham is not used to hardy debate in English class. Only a few short months ago, he moved to Dallas from Vietnam. There, at Hanoi Amsterdam High School, Kien Pham would attend as many

as 13 classes before noon, and then go home to complete homework alone and memorize his flashcards.

He is now a junior at Greenhill and the school’s newest exchange student. He has come here to fulfill his dream of studying in

Courtesy of Kien Pham

HANOI TO DALLAS: Junior Kien Pham comes to Greenhill from Hanoi Amsterdam High School after being paired with Greenhill through ASSIST. He if fulfilling his dream of studying in the United States.

America. In the two short months he has been here, Kien has learned that academic rigor doesn’t always mean hours of study without collaboration. Instead, as he’s finding at Greenhill, conversation in classes such as English can bring a level of multi-dimensional thinking that enhances education far more than memorizing flashcards.

Kien first found out about the ASSIST program, which pairs international students with private schools and host families, through his friends.

“The idea of studying in the USA has always been an ambition of mine ever since I was a little boy, but I’ve always thought of studying at the college and university level,” said Kien. “However, at the beginning of the junior year at Vietnam, I heard some of my friends talking about some exchange program to the US, so I thought ‘what the hell, let’s just take it, what if I got it?’”

In order to apply for ASSIST, applicants must write essays and go through interviews for the selection process. If they receive admission, they must write another essay which determines the school they are placed into.

Kien notes that one of his favorite things about Greenhill is the fact that he only has five to seven classes, as compared to the 13 courses he takes in Vietnam.

Even though Kien said he spends more time on homework here than he did in Vietnam, he said he enjoys classes here more than in Vietnam.

“In Vietnam, they teach us really strict. We have to try hard in all our 13 classes to get a high GPA, and here it is a lot more relaxing with only five classes. In Vietnam, we can just copy down everything and then memorize it and we get high grades,” said Kien.

“Here, you have to understand the whole thing and interpret it in your own way, so it’s harder in a sense, but I kind of like it, because I understand the actual lesson.”

As well as differences in teaching, Kien said he also loves the relaxed atmosphere of Greenhill classes.

“In my classes in my school in Vietnam, the students hardly ever participate during the lessons. They just sit down and copy everything when the teacher goes on and on and writes on the board. Here it’s more like a discus-

sion. In just a normal class, students want to participate and they want to give their opinions out to others, and I like that very much,” Kien said.

According to his Upper School English teacher Karin Thomas, the ability to speak his mind comes out dominantly in class discussions.

“Kien has a feel for language, and is able to communicate on many levels inside and outside the classroom he makes people feel comfortable. More important he is interested in what things mean beyond the surface. He does not content himself with the superficial,” she said.

Along with the academics of Greenhill, Kien said his most memorable experience so far has been the Friday night football games.

“I’ve never seen a football game before, and I still cannot understand football at all, but just the atmosphere there was so crazy, everybody was so pumped up and cheering for Greenhill and shouting and booing at the other team,” he said.

Kien said coming to Greenhill has reinforced his dream of coming to America for university in two years time.

wednesday, october 7, 2015

the

Evergreen

features

9

A Constructive Critique Radhe Melwani Asst. Features Editor

Every morning a stream of students walk across a broken up parking lot, around a slew of construction, past a crew of workers in hard hats, and over mounds of dirt into their classrooms. The beeping noise of machines and the screeching of metal doesn’t deter conversations or attention. A months into the school year and the construction noise has already become part of students’ daily lives.

Many Greenhill students say they are looking forward to the end of Greenhill construction. At the end of the $52.5 million project, the school will be donned with a new cafeteria, performing arts center, and athletic fields.

F r o m driving a r o u n d c ampus Graphic by Arhum Khan to finding the location of the next class, the construction has made an impact on the school, according to faculty

and students.

Parking and driving has been the main challenge, say parents and students in the Upper School. Trucks and cones block parts of driveways. In all, parking and carpooling has become an adventure.

“I had to park off campus, and it was literally the most challenging thing ever.

I started coming a lot earlier, I leave my house by eight, and get here by 8:15 at the latest,” said junior Lexi Gachman.

Lack of parking spaces has caused several students and administration t o park off campus, but has also given students the incentive to get to school early.

Construction has also affected the location of classes and electives.

For example, on the first day of school

In the Spotlight...

Josh Rudner Asst. Online Eitor

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 sophomore Sudeep Bhargava.

A student sits alone at the piano in the seemingly empty recital hall. Suddenly, the room is filled with the classical sounds of Burgmüller’s “The Storm” as sophomore Sudeep Bhargava’s hands float across the keys with precision.

When Sudeep started to play the piano, he said he thought it was boring. Now, nine years later, he has come to love the ability to create a melody of beautiful sounds. He also has Grapheme-Color Synesthesia and Chromestesia, neurological phenomenons that in Sudeep’s case means that certain words and sounds have corresponding colors (some words have adjacent parenthesis to denote the associated color).

Along with piano (purple), he plays guitar, sings, and loves slam poetry. Proud of his Indian-American heritage, Sudeep spends a lot of his time at school standing up for others. He is committed to equality and is active in clubs such as Another Perspective, True Colors, Slam Poetry Club, and is the founder of Bollywood Culture and Music Club.

Sudeep can talk endlessly about music.

The type of music he likes varies on whether he is listening or playing it himself.

“It’s nice to listen to Classical and Baroque (dark blue) music, but I honestly hate playing it. I really like romantic period pieces like the Clair de Lune by Debussy and contemporary pieces like Novelette by Kabelevsky and Golden Leaves by Ninov,” said Sudeep. “I feel like those pieces just have more character in them and they tend to be more dramatic. I also love playing really contemporary music like Adele (red) or the theme from ‘Up.’” Currently, he is working on a cover of Lana Del Rey’s “Honeymoon.” He smiles, “It sounds really good, if I might add.”

For guitar (red), Sudeep plays what he listens to.

“The way I learn is by exploring and playing new songs, so I really like finding new music to play,” he said. “I like the acoustic sound on guitar, so if music is [going to] have electric, it better have a really sick beat.”

Sudeep enjoys a variety of music genres.

“I like Alternative, Indie, and Rap music, but not just any Rap. I’ll only like [it] if I can ‘get into it,’ like Beyoncé (pink), Nicki Minaj, and Logic.”

Beyond the world of music, Sudeep is deeply involved in school clubs like True Colors, Another Perspective, and Bollywood Culture and Music Club. These clubs focus on race awareness, equality, and

Photo courtesy of Sudeep Bhargava

MUSIC MAN: Sophomore Sudeep Bharagava is a music enthusiast and loves guitar.

Greenhill hosted parent events, but many of the parking spots were overrun with construction-related work. As a result, both faculty and students had to park off campus and arrived late to school.

One Fine Arts course, Fall Play Production Technical Crew, also works outside where they are at the mercy of the weather.

“We have adjusted, it’s now like Shakespeare in the Park. We are outside, so if it rains we have to pack up everything and move it inside and stop class for the day,” said senior Whitney Pettijohn. “We are also in the heat, so it can be rough. It is different and challenging, but in all a rewarding experience.”

With the construction, routines and traditions changed temporarily as well.

The Girls and Boys Volleyball teams had to practice at Sportsplex while the Cox Gymnasium was transformed into a makeshift cafeteria.

Additionally, while the Performing Arts Center is under construction, the Nutcracker will be performed off-campus and the Greenhill Singers will be performing in the gym.

“We won’t be able to have the Nutcracker

the Performing Arts Center is complete, we will have that space for our awesome performance,” said Netra Fitzgerald, Head of Preschool.

Despite the nuisance, many of the Greenhill faculty see a silver lining.

“For the younger kids, they like to see the machines. That is always interesting for them,” said Michael Simpson, Head of Lower School. “Some of our kids really like to watch and think about how things are built especially since the Performing Arts Center is right next to the playground.

For a long time we have had cranes out there and big trucks, a lot of the students were interested in watching that.”

Greenhill community members note that trying to piece together the logistics is an additional exercise in educational thinking, and in some ways has brought the community a little bit closer together.

“The positive is that it reminds you how much you have to work as a team and when you work as a team you can’t be selfish and have to be flexible,” said Laura Ross, Head of Upper School.

“When everything is operating normally you don’t have to come together as much.”

the negation of stereotypes; issues that, as an American (red) of Indian (orange/tan) descent, are very important to him.

“At Greenhill [my background] really makes no difference,” Sudeep said. “Here people see me for who I am not the color of my skin or the way my name sounds.”

Sudeep said that his background has

played a large part in who he is.

“A lot of things in our family are very Indian and not very Western (yellow),” said Sudeep. “It has really affected me because it helped me get two aspects of the world: the one that my parents taught me and another at school.”

here, on campus. But next year when

10

the

Evergreen

wednesday, october 7, 2015

Can He Make America Great Again?

11

Primary Thoughts on a Primary Contender

For the past three months, Donald Trump has been the leading Republican candidate for the 2016 presidential election. His lead has grown precipitously. In June, he commanded only one percent of the vote in the poll among voters who said they would vote in the Republican primary. The most recent NBC/WSJ Poll in September puts him at 21 percent. He’s beating competitors once thought to be front runners such as Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush.

From his hair to his bankruptcies, Mr. Trump is as controversial as Greenhill is diverse. In a community like Greenhill, he stimulates vibrant discussion.

But Mr. Trump is much more than simply fun conversation. As citizens and residents of this country, our next President is someone who should matter to every individual in the school. Whether you support Mr. Trump or not, it is possible that he could someday be the nation’s Commander in Chief, implementing his policies about immigration, warfare, and healthcare. Whether you’re old enough to vote, or not even old enough to see an R-rated movie, Mr. Trump affects you.

If you’re a high school senior, the next president will be in power when you’re graduating from college. You’ll be looking for a job and employment rates will matter to you.

If you’re a child or grandchild of an immigrant, Mr. Trump’s strict immigration policies will affect your family. If you’re a member of the LGBT community, Mr. Trump is a vocal opponent of rights to marry.

These considerations are not just confined to Mr. Trump. Any candidate who is running for President will change our future.

Therefore, we, The Evergreen staff implore you to put aside preconceived ideas about politics and Mr. Trump. Open your minds to the relevance and importance of having information about Mr. Trump – and any number of leading candidates that might come across our screens in the next 17 months.

Recently, members of The Evergreen staff had the chance to report on Mr. Trump by attending his campaign rally and a “Dump the Trump” rally. Staff members

talked to over 60 attendees, including many students from regional schools. I asked Mr. Trump what he will do for Generation Z, all students currently in high school.

“You’re gonna be so happy. We’re gonna make your country strong,” he said to me.

I reached out in over a half dozen emails and phone calls to the Trump campaign advisor for further clarification on this answer. and did not recieve any further comment. We have compiled these personal accounts in the hopes to ignite interest from our student body, and to use the tools we have as journalists to start the conversation of who could become our next president.

-Catherine Leffert, co-Editor-in-Chief

Photos courtesy of Nathan Hunsinger, Lisa Rudner, and Catherine Leffert

TRUMP-WATCHING TO TRUMP FASHION: Trump gives a speech to almost 20,0000 Dallas rally goers about what he will accomplish as president, if elected (above). The second Republican Presidential debate, created an opportunity for Greenhill students to come together and watch from juniors Josh and Zach Rudner’s house. (bottom left). At the rally, a woman shows her support for Trump by donning a dress homemade from pictures of the man. (bottom- right).

Laws regarding Second Amendment -Create stricter punishment for criminals -Repeal the 14th amendment Immigration Policies -Build a wall along the American-Mexican border

Rally and Anti-Rally stir up a crowd It’s 7pm on a Monday night and almost 20,000 people crowd the American Airlines Center. No, Demi Lovato isn’t playing in concert. The Mavericks aren’t having a showdown with the Miami Heat. GOP Presidential candidate Donald Trump stopped in Dallas for a rally.

People from across the southwest, Corpus Christi to Tulsa, have traveled to see Mr. Trump speak. A woman wearing a homemade dress constructed from pictures of Donald Trump walks across the VIP floor, swinging her matching Trump handbag. Men wearing cowboy hats are littered around the arena. College girls from their school’s “Young Republicans Club” sit throughout the stands. From the high-income businessmen of Highland Park to the farmer from Abilene, these people all came to hear Trump speak about his policies and ideas and why he should be the next president.

Three Evergreen reporters talked to over 60 people at both the Trump rally and the adjacent protest, and while opinions differed, one thing was clear: Trump has a knack for starting conversations.

One of the biggest conversations going around Monday night was the legitimacy of Trump himself.

“He stands for everything immoral. Really, he is buying himself a presidency, so he shouldn’t be taken seriously,” said protester Gissel Lagunas.

However, rally-goer Cinnamon Lyons disagrees, claiming Trump is merely voicing the opinions of the silent.

“He’s standing up for people that are silent, that really feel like they have no say about what goes on about politics and different things, and he’s putting it out there in front of everybody,” Cinnamon said. “It’s not a Democrat or Republican thing, it’s a ‘here’s what we really care about, let’s take care of what the people really feel and how they really feel’ [thing].”

Trump’s stance on immigration also had a particularly profound effect on the crowd, with his plan of building a wall on the border eliciting a standing ovation: cheers, boos, and jeers.

“It should be fair that people should earn their right to come to this country, like I’m not racist at all, but he has a valid point,” said high school senior Jordan Boyrd.

Hugo Saravia, a man who’s ethnically Salvadorian,

Tax Reform -Simplify tax code -Bring tax relief to lower and middle socioeconomic class Americans -No addition of deficit -Promote the growth of the economy

attended the Trump rally in hopes to learn more about his ideas and political positions. While he agrees that illegal immigration should be curbed, he questioned Trump’s ability to do so with a “wall”.

“If the issue wanted to get solved, it would’ve been solved years ago. The wall has been a topic that has always came up, but has never been done,” Saravia said. “I’ve always tried to explain to people is if you have a boat, and the boat has a hole, are you going to keep taking the water out, which, you know, you gonna keep deporting people?

Or are you gonna fix the hole, are you gonna sew that hole so everybody that’s in, is in, and everybody’s who’s out, well we can have a front door, like he says all the time.”

For others, the issue is not the wall itself but who is going to build the wall.

“I want to see who’s getting the contract… I want to see something that’s reasonably priced, what would a real wall cost if I built a wall? Not if Washington’s building a wall, and they’re getting all their buddies to get in the contract. It’s always about money with Washington,” said Trump supporter Lee Black.

While Trump’s positions are controversial and evoke both positive and negative reactions, some attendees at the rally simply used the experience to learn about the political process.

“I’m here mostly for the experience. This is my first political rally. Whereas I’m not a Trump supporter, I understand there has been a lot of fervor around his movement and controversy,” said high school senior Matthew Norwood.

When Trump spoke, he addressed the crowd almost like a teacher explaining the woes of the world to a child; he told the American people, “how it is”.

reporting by Zayna Syed, Annika Squires, Christian Quintero, Catherine Leffert

The Night through the Eyes of an Immigrant The room had energy like a Mavericks game. When Mr. Trump spoke, he cracked jokes, he vibrantly spoke about issues regarding the economy. He was going to lift it up, he said. About foreign policy, he said America’s leaders are too chicken. He even talked about why he would never eat Oreos again because Nabisco was going to move some of its operations to Mexico.

All this elicited a cadre of moderate support. But about halfway through his speech, the crowd erupted with cheers. It was one word, one topic that brought about the most electric mood that night: immigration.

He began to speak about why illegal immigrants were a problem.

We should get rid of them, he said, and he talked about building a wall like the Great Wall of China.

“It’s disgusting what is happening to our country, and we are a dumping ground for the rest of the world.”

He continued to tell a story about a woman in San Francisco who was shot by an illegal immigrant. He said “When a man has a problem and he has his wife moved to our side of the border and that baby is a citizen of our country for however long the baby lives. We don’t have to take care of the baby forever just because it spent a day here when it was born.”

Let’s take a step back. I am a Colombian immigrant born in the city of Cali, two hours off the coast of Colombia’s Pacific border. I moved to the United States (U.S.) when I was almost five years old. As an immigrant here, it is easy for me to see and apprectiate how hard my parents have worked and why I feel I have to work hard for them. My sister was the first member of our family to graduate from college in the U.S. When Mr. Trump spoke, I felt like I didn’t belong. I felt as if everyone in the room loved hearing about policies that would destroy my family’s hard work.

Sure, there are immigrants who cause crime. Sure, there are immigrants who cross the border to have a child and then go back. But that isn’t my family.

After his speech, the other reporters and I walked back towards the train station in order to head home. But then I spotted a commotion. I remember seeing an crowd of people.

It was obvious to me that it was a conflict between supporters and detractors of Mr. Trump.

I shouted something in Spanish in hopes of getting a man’s attention when all of a sudden I felt a hand grabbing

my shoulder. I was jerked around and as I turn to look, I saw a man, and then several others standing with him. I wasn’t scared, just curious. What could be the issue?

He began speaking, and as he did, I noticed he was probably in his 50’s or 60’s. His friends were the same age except for one boy standing to the side. The man who grabbed me began to shout at me. He said, “Go back to Mexico you f***** wetback”.

His friends continued, “You’re the reason I don’t have a job.” “What are you even doing here?” “God hates your kind”.

This verbal barrage continued for a few minutes. I was in shock. This was the first time I had experienced racism from presumably educated adults. I felt guilty for being myself.

I immediately had several thoughts. Mr. Trump had spoken and gotten the crowd riled up. Before the rally, would this have happened? Were these men driven by his words?

I want to make it clear that I have nothing against Mr. Trump. Even on that night, he made some good points. I agree that foreign policy should be more aggressive. It’s a great idea to keep business in the U.S. I don’t hate the man, but nonetheless, I experienced racial abuse at the hands of his supporters and I wonder if it would have been different had immigration not been such a hot topic.

I’d never been worried about immigration in my family until this rally. I had read it on the news. I’d seen some quotes.

But until I saw him rally thousands of people behind this one idea, I hadn’t realized the power of a crowd. I felt that everyone in that room hated me without knowing who I was.

I’m a passionate journalist. I was thrilled to attend a rally.

But the twist of events was devastating. I don’t like to show weakness, but I felt like I had lost a battle that day.

I told my parents what happened when I went home. This is the reality they tried to hide from me for so long. My parents know, no matter how long we remain here, people will always see me as different simply because of the color of my skin. I don’t have any regrets about attending the rally. They can’t hide it anymore. Now I know the fear that my mom and dad haven’t wanted to show me for 16 years. This is a problem. This makes me want to fix it.

story by Christian Quintero

Special Report the

$1.50 Cost of a 5.96 oz tube of Pringles Sour Cream and Onion chips

$3.72 Cost of 25 oz pack of Sugar Free Strawberry Low calorie JELL-O

$5.47 Cost of a 27.5 oz box of DiGiorno Rising Crust Pepperoni Pizza

$9. 38 Cost of a 18 oz of Old Spice High Endurance Hair and Body Wash

$17.97 Cost of a 150 fl oz. of Tide Original Scent Liquid Laundry Detergent

Photo courtesy of Wal-Mart

SAVING FOR THE FUTURE: (Above) From 86 food and hygiene products, students in Principles of Finance memorize the prices for each item. Upper School math teacher Darryn Sandler advocates that before leaving Greenhill, Upper School students should know how to save money, earn a good credit score, and balance their budget depending on personal spending.

Are you financially literate?

Beyond percentages and calculus, math students plan for their futures Abbas Hasan

21%

the number of students that say they are barely keeping up with day-today expenses.

60%

the number of students that believe using debit cards and credit cards help build credit.

44%

the number of students that say say they have little to no knowledge of creating and maintaining a budget.

Courtesy of Darynn Sandler

Asst. News Editor

Do you know the price of JELL-O? The price of a six-pack of the jiggly, sticky strawberry-flavored dessert is not necessarily common knowledge for many Greenhill students. But in Upper School, Math teacher Darryn Sandler’s class, Principles of Finance, a student would have to estimate this price, along with 86 other items used in the average household.

After tallying the total price, he said, students are usually baffled at the cost.

And if that sounds hard, try estimating the value of a full three-course meal for a family of four at one of Dallas’ famous steakhouses.

At Greenhill, students are encouraged to take Multivariable Calculus and Chinese 5. They leave Greenhill knowing how to solve problems with triple integrals and to read a newspaper in Chinese.

But according to some experts, few students entering college are prepared to balance their bank accounts, and can often set themselves up for financial failure because they don’t know the average cost of weekly groceries.

Earlier this summer, United States (U.S.) Bank conducted a study to show financial literacy among a group of college students.

The results weren’t exactly a vote of confidence.

After finishing a true or false quiz, roughly half the students gave themselves a “C or less in their ability to manage their money.”

About a fifth said they aren’t keeping up with daily expenses and more than 60 percent said they had almost no understanding of investments or retirement savings.

Mr. Sandler said that his goal is to train students to be literate in all necessary financial aspects before they move on to college.

“At some point you’re going to be independent and you will need to know how to manage and budget your money.

Hopefully this class will make it easier to do so,” Mr. Sandler said.

Mr. Sandler, along with other experts, agreed this must be a team effort.

It starts with the parents, say professionals at U.S. Bank that completed the study.

“It surprised us that nine out of 10 of the students we interviewed learn from their parents by example,” said Christine A. Hobrough, Vice President and Metropolitan Region Manager at U.S. Bank.

According to the bank, 55 percent of the students called their parents their most trusted resource. Greenhill students agree with the study.

“It would be useful to know about [personal finance] before we got out of high school to know what we are doing later on,” said sophomore Lily Barnes.

“I think my parents want me to be successful and independent, and financially independent too.”

“

At some point you’re going to be independent and you will need to know how to manage and budget you’re money.”

But parents often are focused on other aspects to education, namely the grades that come home on the report card, and want their children to focus on aspects of school that they consider more challenging.

“In a perfect world it would be advantageous for Greenhill to teach about finances and investing, but I’m not sure what you could give up,” said parent Debbie Barnes.

U.S. Bank said that an exercise like the one that Mr. Sandler conducts in his class is the best start. For example, they suggest that students should go to the grocery store

and buy groceries that are essential for everyday consumption.

It’s a simple mathematical exercise that U.S. Bank agrees can have a very big impact on a high school student.

“They know how much they make at their job per hour. Very quickly they get the size of that grocery bill,” Ms. Hobrough said.

Mr. Sandler’s class goes much more in depth. For example, on a given day, he requires that students write down every cost their parents may incur during a school year. For seniors, this could include braces, tutors, homecoming clothes, manicures, holiday presents, and college visits, to name a few.

“Often times students have filled up the board with examples of expenses they hadn’t realized before the class started,” Mr. Sandler said. “When they approximate the total expenses spent on them, they often go home and thank their parents.”

His class also touches on more sophisticated financial topics. Students learn the long term costs associated with taking on the types of big loans they need to incur to buy a house or a car. They also learn the value of purchasing a home.

As students take part in more advanced classes offered at their schools, they begin to venture away from the reality that is personal financing.

Studies have shown that many recent high school graduates are not prepared for their first trip to the bank.

With parents and the help of classes like Mr. Sandler’s, Greenhill students can change their fate.

“I want [the students] to be able to graduate high school and know how to make some important financial decisions such as whether to finance or lease a car, or what to look for when renting an apartment or buying a house,” Mr. Sandler said. ​

the

Arts

See p. 15 for reviews about singer Lana Del Rey’s newest release, Honeymoon.

Photo by Sudeep Bhargava Graphic by Anusha Kurapati

LIVING THE DREAM: The Fall Drama, A Midsummer Night’s Dream is set in at 1920’s speakeasy. Ursuline Academy is also doing A Midsummer Night’s Dream as their fall play. The play will be held on October 23-25 outside of The Fine Arts building. Ishani Kale (below) reads her copy of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as all Upper School students will this year.

The Dream Behind ‘Midsummer’

volved in both reading and producing the play.

“I think when a lot of people are just reading through [the play] they can’t always find the elements of humor.

I think so far [Fall Drama has] done a really great job of figuring that out,” said Mose. “So I don’t think it will take away from that experience. I think it will only add to it.”

Ms. Hopkins is setting Greenhill’s version of the play in a 1920’s speakeasy.

“I wanted it to be a different kind of show,” she said.

Catherine Leffert Editor-in-Chief

This year, the Greenhill Upper School students will be receiving a double dose of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream through not only the fall drama, but also a mandatory Upper School reading of the play.

For Upper School English teacher Joel Garza, the idea of a school reading of the play began at Wild Detectives Bookstore on April 24th, 2014. He bought a book.

The clerk handed him a rose and said, “These are left over from April 23rd, which is…”

“The day that Cervantes and Shakespeare died,” Mr. Garza interrupted.

“Yes and in Spain, men give books to their beloveds and the women give roses in exchange,” the clerk said.

“And as I’m sitting there on the back patio of Wild Detectives I had this idea,” Mr. Garza recalled 18 months later. “We should host a colloquium on April 23rd, 2016 in the new fine arts center.”

Then and there, Mr. Garza emailed Head of Upper School Laura Ross, Director of Academics Jason Yaffe, Assistant Head of School Tom Perryman, English Department Chair Linda Woolley, and Head of Fine Arts Michael Manes and told them his idea.

Meanwhile, this past spring, Upper School Theatre teacher Catherine Hopkins was going through her annual routine of coming up with the fall production. She planned to host the play outside as the Marshall Family Performing Arts Center is under construction and the Zale-Fields Theatre is demolished.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, mostly set in the woods, doesn’t need an indoor set. Ms. Hopkins inspiration.

“I think [the inspiration was] the idea

“

[The inspiration was] the idea of the campus becoming illuminated and taking advantage of the environment.”

of this campus becoming illuminated at night and taking advantage of the environment and the architecture,” Ms. Hopkins said.

“It’s been a real challenge this trimester without having any space, [technical theatre students] are out working in 100 degree heat after school and on weekends trying to build this incredibly complex and sophisticated set and it is incredibly ambitious.”

Though Ms. Hopkins and Mr. Garza are excited about different aspects of the play, they both say they’re glad that the other is using A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

“I like the way that Puck animates, directs, and embodies the spirit of that play. And I’m often told by my students ‘Aren’t we making too much of this?’ meaning we’re being too serious,” said Mr. Garza. “So for Midsummer at least, I want

Photo by Zoe Allen

to make sure that there’s a puckish quality to the teaching and that it’s fun.”

However, Mr. Garza and Ms. Hopkins utilize different strategies reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream as an English text and staging the play.”

“I am a firm believer that Shakespeare should be performed not read. I think Shakespeare is hard to manage in a classroom setting,” said Ms. Hopkins. “This will be a good tool for teachers to see how language can be so vibrant and active…If I taught this the kids would always be on their feet, never behind a desk.”

Senior Mose Kane is not only reading the play with the Upper School, but is also playing Lysander, one of the male leads, in the production of the play. According to Mose, the classroom time and acting time spent on Midsummer is beneficial for everyone in-

Mr. Garza, who said he was excited for something different as well, thinks that reading a comedy will be a change for the usual texts he teaches.

“The curriculum that I teach in the English department can be pretty dark in tone across the board,” said Mr. Garza. “There are few texts that end comically and resolve in joy.”

The comedic nature of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is something not only Mr. Garza said he looks forward to exploring, but Mose said he thinks that it will be a good shift from Shakespeare’s works that he’s read at Greenhill previously such as Macbeth, Othello, and Hamlet.

“I think being able to read a comedy, something a little light-hearted, has elements of fantasy,” said Mose.

“You can take away something completely different from Shakespeare’s tragedies.”

14 arts

the

Evergreen

wednesday, october 7, 2015

Seniors Shake Up Their Summer Raven Breitfeller and Madison Grimes intern at Shakespeare Amna Naseem Managing Editor

For two months this summer, seniors Madison Grimes and Raven Breitfeller arrived at the Samuell Grand Amphitheatre around 6:30 almost every weeknight. They would check in with the stage manager and director for Shakespeare in the Park, and then take their place as shadow interns.

Traditionally, Shakespeare in the Park has not offer internships to high school students. However, Raven and Madison earned rare spots with the company. Now they can use the theater knowledge from the internship to help Greenhill produce its fall drama, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, which will be performed outdoors.

Raven and Madison both learned production aspects specific to outdoor plays.

Madison says that rain protocol was one of the most important issues that they dealt with in an outdoor production. The girls were learned how to handle electric, lighting, and sound issues when it was raining. They were also given the opportunity to help control and handle the audience when confronting problems with the weather. Furthermore, both girls saw how professional producers, stage managers, and directors handled issues specific to outdoor productions such as late start times, hot weather, and audience safety.

Madison, a teach theater student, interned with the company to gain more experience as a stage and theater technician.

“I really didn’t know what the role of a stage manager was before this internship, which was part of the reason why I took [it] in the first place,” Madison said.

On the other hand, Raven, a theater student, applied for the internship in the hopes of learning more about the nature of a professional theater company and its actors.

“I’m heavily involved in theater, and I want to go in to theater and directing for college,” said Raven. “So I asked Ms. Hopkins how I could stay involved with theater over summer and she suggested Shakespeare in the Park.”

While the two of them had slightly different focuses, both Raven and Madison were able to interact with the stage managers,

Maya Ghosh

Upcoming Concerts in DFW October 14: Marina and the Diamonds at South Side Ballroom October 17: Taylor Swift at AT&T Stadium October 19: Mac Demarco at House of Blues October 23: Luke Bryan at Gexa Energy Pavilion October 24: My Morning Jacket at Verizon Theater October 30: Future at the Bomb Factory November 5: CHVRCHES at the Bomb Factory November 5: AWOLNATION at South Side Ballroom

MIDSUMMER NIGHT: Crowds enjoy a night of Shakespeare in the Park downtown.

directors, producers, and actors.

“It was a little intimidating at first, but everyone was really nice about it and didn’t treat us like babies,” Raven said.

During rehearsals, alongside shadowing her mentor, Raven gave lines to actors. She’d follow along in the script and provide lines, if necessary, as the actors performed the scenes.

“I was on book for rehearsal times, which basically means that they’d call lines and I’d have the script and say specific lines,” Raven said.

While Raven primarily gave lines, Madison kept busy shadowing the stage managers and learning the role of stage manager. These roles allowed the both of them to be in the midst of the production and rehearsal at all times.

Once rehearsals were over and the performances became open to the public, Madison and Raven’s roles shifted quite a bit.

Madison became the House Manager intern for The Compleat Wrks of Wllm Shkspr

(abriged) [revised], a comedy, and Raven became the House Manager intern for Romeo and Juliet. As House Manager interns, the two of them had the opportunity to set up before the show, check people in, watch the show from the booth, monitor the audience, and clean up after the show.

“I did get to spend some time in the booth once the show had started. I got to use the headphones and listen to the cues that were happening backstage,” Madison said.

The two girls were also able to see a professional theater production from behind the scenes, which gives them a unique insight to theater as high school students.

“Now that Midsummer’s Night Dream has started, my job is completely different from how the stage manager was before. I’m now the organizational person behind the entire production process,” said Madison. “I think Greenhill will really benefit from the experience that Raven and I are bringing in.”

November 6: Zac Brown Band at Gexa Energy Pavilion November 7: Untapped Music Festival November 13: Chance the Rapper at South Side Ballroom November 23: James Bay at House of Blues November 25: Mac Miller at The Bomb Factory

A Piece on Peacocks

Staff Writer

Old School is a piece written by a member of The Evergreen Staff for every issue. Drafted and written on a typewriter, Old School visits and delves into the bits of history that make Greenhill so special.

It takes several gallons of water, 50 pounds of feed every three months and many hours to clean up after and take care of something that sets Greenhill apart from other private and public day schools.

Something we all adore, admire and sometimes are annoyed by, the Greenhill peacocks.

In the mid-1960’s, Wes Kittleman, a former teacher, and his wife Jane heard about peacocks for sale from a local contractor who was hired to repair their house. Jane took charge of the effort to collect and assimilate the birds into the Greenhill campus. She brought four - two male and two female.

By the 1990’s, the number of Greenhill peacocks had fallen to just two India Blues, a type of peacock.

A mother of three Greenhill students, Lorene Friedman championed the peacock’s cause and brought ten more birds to campus. She took care of them, bringing them home with her during the summer and taking them on orientation walks to help familiarize them with Greenhill topography.

During their first year on campus, they were kept in a coop for a couple months. In the winter of ‘97- ‘98, three birds died and the rest were taken off campus, except for two males, Greg and Sullivan. In 1999, Science department chair Richard Thieret brought two females to campus, and nine months later three baby peacocks were born. Thus began a new era for Greenhill peacocks.

Today, 16 years later, the Greenhill peacock population is thriving. Sandra Strevig, Assistant to the Director of Business Operations currently feeds and takes on the responsibility of caring for them and has been since she came to Greenhill.

“I feed them everyday.”, Ms. Strevig says, “If they see me they come running. I feed them a mixture of cat food, wild bird seed and black sunflower seeds (to keep their feathers shiny). But they love peanuts and so I try to mix in some roasted peanuts.”

Though she cares for them, she has yet to distinguish them by name. When she came to Greenhill, she learned the names of many, but says since they all look similar. She doesn’t know which was which except for two white females, recently named Jolene and Gertie.

But not all who come to campus expect our feathered friends. On his first day at work at Greenhill, Mr. Jacobo Luna had not known of the peacocks and received quite a fright.

“I thought I heard a little child screaming, calling out,

‘Help! Help’, and because it scared me I ran outside to help.

But it was just a peacock,” he said.

Graphic by Arhum Khan

wednesday, october 7, 2015

15

the

Evergreen

arts

An enlightened debate on the musical stylings of Lana del Rey Lana Del Rey has always been the modern vintage romantic singer that gained mainstream attention from the try-hard hippie radio-pop kids when the rest of the music industry rejected her. Might I add, these are the same kids who say that the radio ruins “real” music, while still bumping Kiss FM like it’s their NPR. However, I think it’s time we forget about her “summertime sadness” and appreciate the new Lana, because her latest project is most certainly deserving. In her fourth album, Honeymoon, Lana Del Rey brings us a self identifying and honest record that combines her old strengths with a new addition of favorability. In addition, she has trashed the Marilyn Monroe act and now idolizes figures like Billie Holiday.

Lana’s ambient production and delightful melodies allow for great components to her beautiful, classically affected voice.

She maintains this style from her previous works, but it now feels much more personal.

On the song “God Knows I Tried,” Lana stays away from maudlin formalities and pours her heart out in an alluring rage against haters and scrutiny.

She continues this theme of reinventing her public personality on the song “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” in which she recites, “I’m just a soul whose intentions are good.”

There’s even a comedic approach on the album in songs like the beautifully produced “Salvatore,” in which Lana dreams about an Italian man.

The same applies to “Art Deco” and “Freak.”

Perhaps the most interesting songs are in “Swan Song” and “High By The Beach,” where Lana introduces themes of solitude and permanently closing burdens in life.

This is a totally different artist from the over-glamourous, predictable Lana from before. I feel like Lana is finally delivering

a genuine piece of art instead of writing for the fifteen-year-olds that have American flag photo shoots by the fence in their backyards.

I’m extremely impressed by the production, lyrics, and delivery that are all sonically exceptional. She really poured her heart into this one, and we can tell. story by Arhum Khan

Graphic by Arhum Khan

Fall is upon us, and for many reasons the arrival of a new Lana Del Rey record seems to be a fitting signal for this season’s approach.

While Lana’s music without a doubt shows an obsession with all things associated with the summertime: bad boy flings, cold drinks, and apparently sadness, the retro-vintage flavors of her music make her

lyrics more importantly about looking back at said past times.

Nostalgia is Lana’s #1 selling point, and thus when summer ends and fall arrives, we have a chance to look back and fawn over the summer life, all sound tracked by Lana’s typically melodramatic voice.

While this has drawn millions of fans, to many others (including myself) this is what makes her unbearably annoying.

However, Honeymoon is a step in a better direction, featuring some of Lana’s most ambitious productions yet; but unfortunately these do not save the record from its flaws, of which there are many.

Honeymoon features some of Lana’s trashiest hooks and lyrics yet, particularly the abysmal “High by the Beach” whose lousy trap instrumental is the most forced, cringe worthy attempt at trend hopping I’ve heard this year.

To be fair, there are some moments when Lana shows mastery of her style, particularly the opening title track “Honeymoon”, yet the album is muddled with many painfully drab lyrics that bring down the lavish instrumentation.

Lana’s singing style doesn’t change much: still trying to be a powerhouse but not quite reaching it, nor failing miserably, she ends up sounding just mediocre.

On Honeymoon, Lana wants to evoke emotions as huge and sweeping as love itself, but in the end the drama feels only on par with the unremarkable decision that our troubled millennial generation so often faces between a frappucino and a pumpkin spiced latte.

story by Evan O’Brien

Sports the

See p. 18 to learn about football alums’ reunion on the hill.

Photos courtsey of Jerline Woods and Madison Goodrich

JUST PASS TO KASS: Konnell (left) and Kassidy (right) have both played sports since they were born. The two brothers are pictured with their younger sister, Kionce (center), who is a freshman. At Greenhill, Konnell and Kassidy have the chance to play on the same football team, an opportunity they never had before. Konnell is told, when in doubt, pass to Kassidy.

Backyard to Brinkmann

For brothers Kassidy and Konnell Woods, football and family are in their blood Madison Goodrich Editor-in-Chief

Junior Konnell and Sophomore Kassidy Woods started their athletic career in their backyard at ages one and two. In their backyard, Konnell, dropped back for a pass.

Kassidy dove for the football. Alas, the toddler’s big play resulted in their first injury as well.

“Well, Konnell threw the ball, Kassidy dove after the ball, Konnell went to grab him, and they both fell and hit their mouths on the concrete. Needless to say, we were rushing them both to the emergency room,” their mother Mrs. Jerline Woods said.

At age 17 and 16, not much has changed since their days in the backyard. They now start on Greenhill’s Varsity Football team.

Konnell is quarterback and Kassidy is wide reciever and safety on defense for the team.

Although they’ve grown a lot since their first football injury, their competitive nature hasn’t changed. And their personalities, though different, compliment each other in a way that helps their sport.

“Konnell never meets a stranger, [but] Kassidy is a little reserved at first. He has to warm up a little bit more, but Konnell has always had a talkative, playful personality, Kassidy, he’s the third son so he kind of waits to see if his older brothers like them first. That’s just how they are,” Mrs. Woods said.

According to Varsity Football Head Coach, Tom Williams, these personality traits come out on the field as well.

“Konnell has a more fiery leadership, especially when he’s on

By the numbers Compiled by Ellen Margaret Andrews and Joseph Weinberg

the field. Kassidy is a little more reserved in terms of his playing style, equally as effective, but a different approach.”

The two brothers don’t shy away from talking and holding each other to higher standards.

“Sometimes, him being my brother, I expect him to know everything so I’m hard on him. Like a play for instance, if he runs a route, I expect him to know it because he’s a leader of the team and he’s my brother so he should know it,” Konnell said.

As with all siblings, they have their good days and their bad ones.

“Those guys, they kind of brotherly bicker back and forth you know. For instance, if Konnell will miss Kassidy on a pass, whether it’s too high or too low, Kassidy will say, ‘throw a better pass’ and Konnell will say, ‘run a better route.’ Goodnatured brotherly bickering. I have four kids so I hear that all the time. It makes me chuckle because even though those guys are teammates they’re still brothers and that comes out,” Coach Williams said.

Despite their competitive nature on the field, the two boys are able to keep their composure off the field.

“We talk often times about football players and flipping the switch. They can be really nice guys off the field but it takes a certain intensity to play this sport and I think you can see that [with them] right away,” Coach Williams said.

The two brothers have the athletic odds in their favor given their family tree. Their father, John Alton Woods II, played nine

Number of blocks by the Varsity Girls Volleyball team against the Episcopal School of Dallas on September 24. One block is actually equivelant to .5 therefore the team actually recorded 23 blocks on the statsheet.

11.5

years of professional basketball in Europe.

He now has a basketball program that works with kindergarten through 12th grades on basketball skills. He also has teams that play in recreational and competitive leagues.

Kassidy and Konnell have a brother that is currently a redshirt sophomore at Texas Tech University, a mother that played basketball in college, and a sister, Kionce, who is currently a freshman who plays basketball and runs track. The two brothers also have an eight-year-old sister and a sixyear -old brother that play basketball on their father’s team.

“

I think they’ve created a more cohesive football team because they’ve demonstrated all of the things we preach in our program about being a good teammate and working hard. They bring so much to the community.

“We have an older brother that plays in college so we’re just from an athletic family. We talk about sports all the time,” Konnell said.

Although they grew up playing basketball and running track together, they had never played football together until this year.

“Coming from our last school we really didn’t have a chance to play together, “ Kassidy said. “So when we came to Greenhill it was like, ‘oh what an opportunity.’ Its our

16:45 Daniel Brickman’s meet-winning time in the Marcus II Invitational Meet, a 5k race on September 19.

It was the fastest 5k by a Hornet Cross Country runner since 2012.

first time playing together in high school.”

Coach Williams says their brotherly dynamic works for the better of the team.

“When I first started talking to the family about coming and playing football here, one of the things I said to Konnell as quarterback was ‘if you ever are in doubt throw it to your brother.’ I think that has certainly come in handy during the course of the year,” Coach Williams said.

Konnell and Kassidy’s father played a big role in developing them as players and teammates.

“He always instilled them to be coachable, work hard, show your work ethic, learn the game, watch the game,” Mrs. Woods said. “Those are things we talk about non-stop at our home. We are always lifting each other up, [and] encouraging each other,” Coach Williams said he feels that they are a great addition to the football team and the school as a whole.

“I think they’ve created a more cohesive football team because they’ve demonstrated all of the things we preach in our program about being a good teammate, working hard. They bring so much to the community,” Coach Williams said.

As for the brothers, they say they love the opportunity to play with one another.

“We’re on the same page no matter what so I feel like it’s easier,” Konnell said. “It’s real fun, [we] kind of have that chemistry from when [we] were younger,” Kassidy continued.

Kassidy Woods’ average yards per catch six games into the regular season. He has helped lead the Hornets to a 3-3 record more than halfway through the season.

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Girls of the Gridiron due to her skill, as well as the nature of the position she plays, offensive line. “[I think they respect me] because I’m not playing a non-physical position. I’m on the front of the line, and

Ben Schachter Features Editor

Lili Stern

Asst. Sports Editor

Seventh graders Grace Williams and Amina Jenkins may be girls, but that hasn’t stopped them from becoming key members of the seventh grade football team. Together they are proving that girls are capable of competing on the football field, not just on the sideline as cheerleaders, but on the gridiron as players.

Grace is a key component of the team’s offensive and defensive line, while Amina is a wide receiver and defensive back, and a member of the special team’s unit.

It is uncommon for girls to play football, but once Grace and Amina step on to the football field, they show that they are no different than the rest of their teammates.

Like any of their teammates, they display strength, toughness, and effort. In fact, contrary to the stereotypes pitting girls as being extremely neat and timid, Grace and Amina get dirty and rough people up.

“I like the physicality of [football],” said Grace. “I’m a little bit violent.”

According to Tom Williams, Grace’s father and Varsity Head Football Coach for the Varsity Football team, some boys did not want Grace to play, but not because she is a girl.

“She had a reputation of being very physical and pretty tough, to the point where some of the boys didn’t want her to play,” said Coach Williams. “She was just tougher than they were.”

Most of Grace’s prior football experience came from playing in the backyard with her father and watching games with him.

Amina had played football before this year. In fourth grade, she played flag football, and in fifth grade, she played tackle football. However, playing football this year was not on her mind until her mother brought it up.

“My mom was the one who suggested that I play [football] again this year and I thought that it would be cool,” Amina said.

The process of joining the football team was no

Photo by Lili Stern

GIRL POWER: Grace Williams (left) and Amina Jenkins(right) are in good spirits during a recent football practice.

different for the girls than the boys. Like all the other players, they showed up on the first day of practice ready to compete.

“On the first day [of the season], [Coach Journey] was like, ‘you sure [that you want to play],’ and I was like ‘yes’.”

Grace said.

Coach Williams said that Middle School is a good time for girls to get involved in football. The physical differences between boys and girls are not nearly as significant as they are in high school. However, there is still potential for Grace and Amina, or any girl for that matter, to play football for Greenhill later on.

“I think if they continue to want to play, there’s a place for them,” he said. “I do think there’s a future for women in the sport.”

At the beginning of the season, Grace said she was excited to play a sport she had grown up around. However, she was concerned about how she would fit in with the team.

“I was a little bit [nervous about playing at first], but since I’m one of only two girls playing, [the boys] respect me,” Grace said.

Grace said she thinks the respect of her teammates is

“

[I think they respect me] because I’m not playing a nonphysical position. I’m on the front of the line, and I think I’m pretty good, and I think they think that, too.”

I think I’m pretty good, and I think they think that, too,” Grace said.

She said that changing in separate locker rooms has had little effect on her experience this season.

“I like [having] my own locker room, and I do miss out on some things the coaches say in the boys’ locker room, but my teammates fill me in on it,” Grace said.

However, Amina said that she wishes coaches could accommodate their inability to be in the locker room a little bit more.

“I think we miss out on some of the pep-talks that the coach does before games, and sometimes [I wish we could be a part of that],” she said.

While Amina said that she was glad to have played football this season, Amina does not plan on playing again next year.

“I don’t think I could handle it next year because [all the boys are getting bigger],” Amina said.

Nonetheless, being part of the team has brought Amina and Grace closer with each other, but also with the other teammates.

“After practice, [the boys] are all like ‘good work today Grace,’ and I say the same to them. We always encourage each other [to do better],” Grace said.

The biggest thing Grace said she has taken away from the season so far is mental toughness.

“Other sports push you, but football makes you go especially hard. [When you do that], your teammates appreciate it and your coaches don’t yell at you,” Grace said.

The Nation Behind the Name Lane Hirsch

Online Editor-in-Chief

The Greenhill community prides itself on its many unique facets. Students identify themselves as artists, athletes, and as academic scholars – and the school educates students from ages four to 18.

Yet the school struggled to find a name that characterized all those facets as one— until now.

The club formerly known as Spirit Leaders of Greenhill, or SLOG, has become Big Green Nation. SLOG’s

prior name implied a focus mainly on Upper School sports.

However, administrators say the name change intends to include more than just one division of the school.

“Big Green Nation is a name that incorporates more than just a group of people in the Upper School. It encapsulates the community wide Greenhill spirit that we hope to establish,” said Chad Wabrek, Head of Athletics and Physical Education.

The name is meant to place the club at the forefront of people’s minds.

“For too long the club has been overlooked,” said Jacob Pugh, Big Green Nation co-president. “The goal, through this student run organization, is to change the culture at Greenhill. We want to spread the message that Greenhill is a place where we should celebrate each other in every single way, and the name Big Green Nation captures that idea in a way that SLOG never did.”

Big Green Nation is a short phrase, belying the amount of discussion that went in to choosing this particular title.

“The coaches have been talking for the last 18 months in order to find a suitable name.” said Tracey Pugh, Varsity Cheer Head Coach.

“It’s more than just a club—it should be the culture of the school.

Everyone should have some sort of spirit, pride, or commitment level to what they are passionate about at our school.”

During the lengthy discussion period, Mr. Wabrek researched how collegiate level institutions formulate their own spirited names.

“A lot of spirit organizations at colleges have catchy names, names that encompass a bigger group of people and encourage the community to get on board because this involves more than three or four of us,” Mr. Wabrek

Graphic by Adam Weider

said. “The idea of “nation” is so that some form of grouping is there. Then we incorporate our school colors, and the word “big” shows that we want spirit to be big in every aspect of the school.”

In order to make Big Green Nation a more prevalent part of the school’s culture, the club is working towards appointing leaders in other parts of the school.

“We want to take this model and roll it into the Middle School so that they can have spirit clubs as well. It needs to be a campus wide, community effort,” Coach Pugh said.

Administrators and students alike want to ensure that every individual at Greenhill feels equal support from their community.

“We perform to the highest of calibers in every facet of life at Greenhill,” Jacob said. “I want to be a part of the organization that creates a spirited environment where every student feels encouraged and valued no matter what they do.”

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A Trip Back to the Hill Sports Editor

On September 18, the Greenhill Athletics Department welcomed back Hornet Football alumni inviting all alums who played football to attend the first annual “Hornet Football Reunion,” held in the Tom Perryman Athletic Center (TPAC).

The event was hosted by Head of Athletics and Physical Education Chad Wabrek, Varsity Football Head Coach Tom Williams, and Assitant Head of School Tom Perryman ’81, and took place late Friday afternoon, a couple hours prior to the Hornet’s second Southwest Prepatory Conference (SPC) counter game against the Fort Worth Country Day School.

“

At a school like Greenhill, you form real friendships with people that last forever so the idea that so many of us were going to be able to come back together again in one place was something I couldn’t resist.”

SOUTHWEST GALLERY

In addition to the reunion, just prior to kickoff, members of the 2000 SPC Championship Football team were asked to join the captains at midfield and be honored during the ceremonial coin toss.

The reunion itself kicked off with brief introductions from both Mr. Wabrek and Mr. Perryman, followed by a speech from Coach Williams, who welcomed the former Hornets back to the school.

“Bringing everyone who has ever worn the ‘block G’ helmet back to the school is what history and tradition is all about,” said Coach Williams during his address at the event.

The remainder of the reunion was meant for former players and friends to mingle and share memories from their high school years. They recounted the great times they had during their time at Greenhill.

One ex-hornet present at the event was Eric Johnson ’94. He said he was thrilled to hear about the first annual reunion and saw it as a great opportunity to reunite with some old friends from years past.

“At a school like Greenhill, you form real friendships with people that last forever,” Eric said. “So the idea that so many of us were going to be able to come back together again in one place was something I couldn’t resist.”

Tommy Box ’74 and Darrell Hurmis ‘73 were also present at the event.

The two represented “the only undefeated team ever” in Greenhill football history.

“We were on the 10-0 team. The only undefeated team ever. Well there was one that was 6-0, but we were 10-0,” they said together. “It was a great team, we killed everybody and had seven shutouts out of 10 games.”

Randy Augebor ’04 touched on the often talked about “Friday Night Lights” aspect of high school football in Texas. He looked back on those special Friday nights and

Photo by Patrick Green

JUST LIKE OLD TIMES: Kent Siri ‘01 (middle) joins the Greenhill Varsity Football captains to administer the coin toss in Greenhill’s game against Fort Worth Country Day.

recounted what they meant to both him and his school.

“Game days were always the culmination of all the handwork you and your teammates had put in all week,” said Randy. “There was a real good sense of comradery and it was an honor to represent the school in that capacity.”

Coach Williams concluded his

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speech with one final request for all the graduated hornets in attendance that evening.

He stated that they are welcome back on campus anytime they want.

“I want you all to know that this is your home just as much as it is ours,” said Coach Williams. “And please, don’t let this be the last time you find yourself here.”

THINK...FRAMING!

Joseph Weinberg

wednesday, october 7 , 2015

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When in Doubt, Dip It in Ranch

I found out this summer that I love tortellini pasta with ranch. At first, it sounded gross to me. But I was convinced by an 11-year-old, who bet me she would chug a glass of Gatorade if I tried it, that it was worth at least a taste. When an 11-yearold initiates a bet, you don’t pass it up. From that day on, I could honestly say that I love

tortellini pasta with ranch.

I’ve always taken pride in my ability to try new things. From music taste to clothes to movie options, I often times pick what I don’t know and learn from there.

It doesn’t always work out.

In November of my sophomore year I decided I wanted to try something new. I joined the Greenhill Girls Junior Varsity (JV) Soccer team. A friend convinced me to go to the preliminary meeting one day, where they said they needed more players for JV. I signed up for the soccer team right then and there. I figured I would get athletics credit and try this new fun thing in which I could run a little, maybe kick some soccer balls, and meet new friends.

The first day of preseason I realized how wrong I was.

Truly, practice was like my own little

circle of death. I was the slowest runner, had the worst aim with kicking, could hardly kick the ball 15 feet away, and would literally trip over my cleats on the field.

Nonetheless, I was the JV goalie until winter break, when I broke my ankle.

(Honestly, this was the best thing that had happened to me all season.) From then on, I was the Girls JV Soccer Team’s best cheerleader, which was much more my speed anyway.

This is a pathetic story of a girl who writes stories for a newspaper trying to play high school soccer and embarrassing herself for two months on the field. I put myself out there and tried soccer, and that’s more important than the fact that I had the grace of an ostrich trying to swim when I played.

I know food and sports are a little different (although ironically symbiotic)

when it comes to long-term affects. But trying something new is what makes the world go round.

If no one ever tried anything different from what they knew then we wouldn’t have ice cream, or cars, or the new snapchat filters.

So, my advice is really just what a mom tells her 4-year-old kid when the broccoli comes out. Try it.

Whatever it is you’re thinking about trying (assuming it’s legal and/or not dangerous) go for it. Sure it may end up being your version of JV soccer, but it just might be your tortellini pasta with ranch.

You never know until you give it a whirl.

And if you’re ever unsure about something, dip it in ranch. It’s good.

rapidly declined. I shed more and more erase dust across my desk and frequently switched multiple-choice responses two or three times. My teachers and my parents grew suspicious.

Whether it was placing an order or taking a test, I felt like I had fumbled the ball before reaching the line of scrimmage.

Extra time, private tutors and a customizable learning pace reduced the symptoms temporarily. But to fully restore my selfconfidence, I had to learn how to teach decision-making to others.

I co-founded and taught a journalism course at Gooch Elementary this summer.

Here, a second grader inspired me to overcome the fear of commitment.

I asked my class on the first day: what

would you like to be when you grow up? A boy in the back shouted that he wanted to be an artist. Wearing an extra large dry-fit basketball jersey, I thought he was referring to the artist who can orchestrate an offense and do crossover dribbles like Allen Iverson.

He proudly held up a cartoon strip of a lifelike sketch of Godzilla climbing the façade of the Empire State building.

Five days later, the black and white rough draft of a Marvel’s comic had become a colorful display of his artistic confidence.

The Last Straw Before Recovery

I step into line at Fat Straws. My head zips from left to right skimming the options.

I order a regular chai tea bubble tea. Two seconds later, I ask the server to change my order: passion fruit tea, I say, and go light on the ice. Wait, wait. I’m not done yet. I’m still

pondering over the size. I gesture at the large cup, calculate the price difference and then nod my head in agreement. After paying for the drink, I glance over at the table to see my friends have already downed half of their respective bubble teas.

Keep moving. Make up your mind. Pick up the pace. Are you done yet?

No, I’m just getting started. Decisionmaking has never been an easy task for me.

I am diagnosed with a learning disorder; I have a slower than normal buffer speed when sorting through piles of information.

Sixth grade art history was the first indicator my mind was wired differently. I failed a quiz on sculptures. I’ll cut myself some slack (it was on a Renaissance vs. Classical art).

Nevertheless, following the test, my grades

If a second grader could dedicate at least one week to becoming a cartoonist, the least I could do was stick to my Fat Straws order without a second of hesitation.

“Unfriended” by My Congressman

Lying in bed in a room painted two shades too dark, swaddled in sheets decorated with the trimmed blonde hairs of an inhospitable, shedding dog, like a farmstead baby, I have found myself met with three texts, two voice mails, four Facebook notifications, and an email from Ms. Noreen Kennedy, my manager as youth ambassador of the National Psoriasis Foundation. These messages, I tell myself, will dwindle to an eternity of “unread” retribution on the surface of my lavish iPhone 6.

A few months ago, U.S. Representative Joe Barton, personally “unfriended” me. In recent weeks, that’s how I’ve learned to tell the story; to make light of it.

My mind wanders back to the shrill echoes of the 60 heated constituents at Mansfield Town Hall. For five years, I have spoken at various events for the foundation, but never at an open convention like this before.

Instead of informative discussions about new medicines and doctors, an array of topics-- high school football rivalries, objections to abortion, “them illegals,” and the supposedly distasteful oil wells 10 yards from some woman named Ms. Monroe’s backyard-- filled the room.

Ms. Kennedy had sent me here, among a myriad of belly-achers, to have our own plight heard. She thought I could inveigle

him because of my age. Little did I know, she saw me as her lamb. Little did she know, she was sending me, in my new studded flats, to be slaughtered.

Fifteen minutes after his scheduled 5:00 p.m. start, Representative Barton finally puts his silver voice recorder on the podium.

For 20 minutes he pontificates about baseball and his 10 year old son while spectators look on at the the edge of their seats like he was giving them the roadmap to El Dorado.

After this performance, eager to speak, a new attendee stands up, pats his thick belly, rubs his lips together, and roars to the Congressman that he wants a taller wall built across the United State’s boarder than the one Representative Barton has proposed- “something more like China’s”.

Coarse, like the audience on a reality court show, the crowd joins in, wooing in support of the “China wall.”

Amid this spectacle, Ms. Kennedy forces my arm in the air to plead for Medicare funding for Psoriatic medicines, something that is destined for a different reaction.

Someone else was called. Whew, I thought, and let my quaking body fall back onto my chair. There could not have been a more inappropriate place for Psoriatic education.

“Are you sure I should read all of this?” I whisper to my advisor, my fingers staining the papers from the stickiness of my shaking, clammy hands. “The speech is a few minutes long,” I tell her. “Read it,” she said.

Before realizing she had my hand in the air, Representative Barton called on me, the girl in the white. The floor was mine.

After thanking the pompous man for the opportunity to speak that day, I began with a joke that received only one laugh-my

own. Nervously, I continued to speak to the tense crowd. “Psoriasis is a chronic, nonpreventable, lifelong disease that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease by 58 percent, diabetes by 46 percent, and is linked to Crohn’s disease, depression and cancer,” I said. I threw in a few more jokes about how the disease is not taken seriously, sometimes even by doctors, because to the naked eye it is only cosmetic.

“Can you just sit down?” A man abruptly barked at me from a few rows behind. Other constituents joined in.

I ignored them and told the crowd, instead, about how awkward it was as a six year old to have my parents’ friends use the round, red, itchy sores, or spider bite, as they called it, growing on my ankle as small talk at a Halloween party and how it wasn’t until a few years later, after visits with three different dermatologists, including one who nonchalantly decided to Google what these parasitic red blotches could be, that I was diagnosed as both a victim of plaque Psoriasis, and according to a mensch in my freshmen class, a lizard.

“

I was diagnosed as both a victim of plaque Psoriasis, and according to a mensch in my freshmen class, a lizard.

I am lucky to be able to afford treatment, to be able to at least try to control my skin and to have the rare and unbelievable comfort of knowing people who understand what Psoriasis is, but there are so many others, 40% of the 7.5 million diagnosed American patients, that cannot afford treatment.

These people suffer the psychological burdens of losing control of their appearance

entirely alone and this stress, the stress of for one man I met at a different convention, being asked to leave a public pool because of the apperance of his harmless skin and the ignorance of someone else, only makes Psoriasis more severe. Patients need Medicare funding.

Representative Barton’s voice pierced the room. “How much more do you have?

Can you just get to the point?” He demanded.

The other constituents wooed.

On his very website, which I am embarrassed to say I still have memorized from my preparation the day before, Congressman Barton said the following in an advertisement about his town hall meetings: “Listening to you at home, working for you in Washington. ... it is my office motto because I know each of the decisions being made in the Nation’s Capital are felt in neighborhoods all over the 6th District. To be your representative, I need to know what you think about current issues...

I want to answer your questions and listen to your concerns ... The floor will be yours.

This is your meeting, you will guide the conversation.”

“No,” I said, and a minute later I finished to a finale of barracking, scolding, and Mr. Barton’s praised declaration that I am ruder than his grandchildren, and that we are apparently no longer friends, although “we [did] start out as them.” It was like something on a daytime reality TV show.

I had been nominated to speak because of my age, yet it was because of my age that I was not taken seriously. Just because I’m not 18 doesn’t mean my concerns for policy don’t matter. Why wouldn’t I speak up?

I think today I’ll surprise Ms. Kennedy and respond to her messages with a thank you instead.

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“The new system promotes us to talk more in class because we haven’t seen our friends, and class is the only time to talk to them all day.” – Clarissa Smith, seventh grade

“Things aren’t clear, I think we are having a hard time with the new system.” – Peggy Turlington, Middle School history teacher

“As we get older, we are getting less freedom.” – Ike Kassanoff, seventh grade

Starting this year, students, pre-kindergarten to eighth grade, sit at an assigned table with a teacher.

Here is what they have to say about the new rule.

“I tell knock knock jokes!”

- Sloan Stagen, second grade

“I like sitting with my teacher because I like people to adore me.”– Ari Smith, second grade

“Since Mrs. Sanders, who I sit with, is my teacher, I get to know what is going on during class.”– Emma Nguyen, fifth grade