A Student Profile: Who is Vincent Guo?
The Building of a Bonfire
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Sleep: How Much Do You Need?
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The Picador A PUBLICATION BY THE STUDENTS FOR THE HOLDERNESS SCHOOL COMMUNITY
November 18, 2011
Volume 7, Issue 5
Taking the Future in Your Hands By Fabian Stocek ’13 The student Academic Committee meets every other Thursday, discusses topics raised by its members, and takes votes on what is great and what needs to be changed in the Holderness community. The long-term goals of the committee, however, are undefined. “For now, its purpose is to find its own purpose,” said Mr. Durnan who helped students establish the committee this fall. One of the secretaries, Olivia Leatherwood, was a bit more specific: “It is a group of young intellectuals who care about the school and have constructive feedback for teachers.” Their discussions so far have included conversations about possible new courses and improving Quote of the Week: “I don't want to belong to any country club that will have me as a member.” - Groucho Marx
Moodle, Mac support, and Internet connections. Others have said that a second major intention of the group is to include new students in leadership roles and give them the opportunity to voice their opinions. One thing its members have made clear, however, is that this committee is not strictly academic; it does not focus just on creating new classes and resolving homework assignment problems. One of the missions the committee chose to pursue this fall was to bring more current news into the community, adopting the name “Operation: Pop the Bubble” for its project. As a community, the committee believes we need to be more educated about major issues around the world. The Academic Committee will be entirely student-run and will include representatives from every class. There are about ten members so far, but the committee hopes to (Continued on page 2)
Grinding Craze Stirs Up Trouble By Andrew Zinck ’13 Holderness students' promiscuous grinding at the first school dance in Hagerman Hall infuriated some of the faculty members, raising the question of whether or not there will be many dances this year. Grinding is a form of modern dancing that is wildly popular with today‟s youth, but it has raised the eyebrows of many in the older generations. The Holderness campus has been the site of a fiery debate since the antics of some students at the first dance upset many faculty
members who felt that such dancing was over the top and inappropriate. Some students even raised their voices against grinding. “Yeah, it makes me super uncomfortable,” ranted Stepper Hall of Niles Dormitory. “I did not expect it to be that wild,” recalled cross country star Fabian Stocek of the first dance. As a result, some faculty members made it clear that they intend to configure dances to better suit those who are most uncomfortable (Continued on page 2)
The Picador “Grinding is harmless,” John Musciano agreed. “The only at them, even if this means thing inappropriate about it is revoking grinding for many in how irresistible I am out there order to settle the uneasiness on the floor.” of a few. Others offered yet another Facing the threat of having reason to support grinding. their dance privileges reThe ever-lovable Treat Hardy voked, many students have was resolute in his belief, statspoken out, defending their ing, “Let‟s face it, Americans just don‟t know how to acturight to get down and funky. ally dance, so we have to re“Everyone grinds these days,” sort to grinding. Let the disadTyler Evangelous quipped, vantaged have their fun.” citing the fact that grinding is simply a generational move- It is a valid point. The image ment that many adults simply of a stage full of prep school students trying to actually do not understand. Grinding (Continued from page 1)
ness is something really special that I hope everyone gets increase their membership the chance to embrace at with your voice. You have some point, even if they only something to say, even if it is come to one meeting,“ said about ice cream cones. ReOlivia. member, small things are big This really fresh organization, things in this community and created and inspired by Mr. if you help improve just one Durnan, meets every other thing, Holderness School will Thursday in the West Wing become a better place, a betof Weld Hall after lunch at ter community. 12:30. Please join us; we “Being in an environment in need your voice. which students care about each other's futures at HolderAcademic Committee (Continued from page 1)
Above are the inaugural members of the Academic Committee posing after their first meeting.
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dance rather than grind is a somewhat frightening image and is perhaps even less visually appealing than grinding. In addition, many students feel that if certain individuals don‟t wish to be exposed to a widespread activity like grinding, they may simply opt to skip the dances. Perhaps a solution to the controversy, however, lies in finding a middle ground and opening a better line of dialogue between students and faculty.
that the start of finding a community solution needs to begin with a better understanding between students and teachers. “I think that the students should try to understand the basis of some adults' objections to this form of dancing,” explained Lin. “In return, we as faculty need to understand the students' desires to relax and enjoy themselves. Perhaps from that point, we will be able to engage in a conversation that could lead to an agreeable solution for all.”
Mr. Lin eloquently suggested
A Photo Essay By Charlie Williams A photo essay is meant to create a story through pictures in which the composition of the photographs matters as much as the subject. This week Charlie chose to focus on the building of the Tabor Day Bonfire.
Volume 7, Issue 3
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The Picador One in Two Hundred Eighty: Inside the Mind of 郭子汉 Vincent appreciates Perry‟s friendship and is grateful to him for helping him determine what is real and what occurs just in textbooks.
By Jess Ross ’13 Zihan "Vincent" Guo takes six courses at Holderness School. He received excellent efforts in all disciplines and earned straight A‟s during the first quarter. Vincent‟s exceptional grades can be attributed to his work ethic and personality. If you see Vinnie on the path, he will most likely be rushing off to do more homework, but he will still have a smile on his face to share. This is Vincent‟s second year studying in the United States, but his first year at Holderness. He is originally from China.
“To be efficient I do my Honors Physics and AP Calc homework at the same time,” he explained. “It helps me better understand both topics.”
Because he is taking six courses, Vincent's daily free time amounts to less than 30 minutes; he is a master of time management and is always focused on success.
realized the value of communicating with his six teachers.
In order to be successful, however, right away Vincent
He said he also found another somewhat eccentric
Senior Editors Nate Lamson Haley Mahar James Robbins Junior Editors Jake Barton Jeff Hauser Charlie Williams
Bee Crudgington Keith Bohlin Philippe Johannson Kristina Micalizzi Shawn Watson Maggie Caputi Hannah Halsted Steph Symecko Contact Information
Faculty Advisors Ms. Magnus Mr. Solberg Mr. Carey Contributing Writers Andrew Zinck Fabian Stocek Jesse Ross
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Holderness School Chapel Lane P.O. Box 1789 Plymouth, NH 03245 Phone Number: 603.536.1257 Fax: 603.536.1267 Email: info@holderness.org
way to get all his work done. “To be efficient I do my Honors Physics and AP Calc homework at the same time,” he explained. “It helps me better understand both topics.” The most difficult part of school for Vincent is keeping up with his nightly homework load. His roommate, Perry Kurker -Mraz, however, does what he can to help. He stated, “I understand that pillow talk at night must be kept to a minimum to ensure that Vin‟s work ethic continues at its present level.” Perry also noted that an abnormal amount of space in their room is taken up by textbooks.
Other people on the Holderness campus have been impressed with Vincent. “In my time at Holderness,” Vincent's advisor, Mr. Solberg wrote in his quarterly comments, “I honestly cannot remember any other new sophomore: (1) taking six courses, (2) earning straight A's, and (3) earning six excellent efforts. This is truly an accomplishment that he should be proud of... But more than his academic progress, Zihan is a pleasure to work with for his thoughtful questions, his love of learning, and for his consistently good nature.” At the end of his rigorous academic days this fall, Vincent ran on the cross country team to stay stress free. In fact, Vincent said, crosscountry taught him to “face problems and find a way to the final destination.” He claims that the most essential part of surviving life at Holderness is to sustain mental and physical health any way you can. “Power through it” is a phrase that Vincent lives by, applying it to Research Methods and to finishing 5km races. To get to know him at a personal level, Vincent can be found during open dorm hours in lower Rathbun.
Volume 7, Issue 3 Student Opinion Fostering the Mind, Body, and Spirit on Too Little Sleep So what happens with this sleep debt? It builds up. Contrary to popular belief, it is not possible to make up for sleep lost during the week by sleeping more on the weekends. Sleeping later on the weekends actually adversely affects a person's sleep-wake cycle, making it harder to go to sleep on time on Sunday night and to get up for classes on Monday morning.
By Bee Crudgington ’12 Former Headmaster Pete Woodward could not have described Holderness any more perfectly than when he said that we embody opposites. We are often reminded that we are “counterculture” because we don‟t use our phones in public, we say hi to each other on the paths, and we have outdoor chapel. But the biggest example of our paradoxical way of life is the contrast between our idealistic mission and the pace of our daily lives. The mission of Holderness School can be easily found on our website: “Within the context of a caring community, Holderness School fosters equally the resources of the mind, body, and spirit in each student, instilling in all the resolve to work for the betterment of humankind and God‟s creation.” According to our website, Holderness is anchored in the balance of these three things and each aspect of this balance is equally important. In Mr. Woodward‟s speech that Mr. Ford read during dinner after the dedication of the Woodward dorm, he noted that at Holderness we are asked to stretch ourselves “but also to identify limits,” and we are required to work hard but also know how to “relax and smell the roses.”
How does this affect our community? Students are groggy during the day and less attentive during classes. Loss of sleep causes irritability, and because most upperclassmen are affected, the leaders of our school are less approachable and tend to be grumpy. chapel a month into school. The common cold has taken up residence at Holderness partly because of the change in weather, but also because the students are run down. Constant activity and lack of sleep are to blame. I would like to make a point that it is not only unruly freshmen that lack sleep but students who stay up late to study or finish assignments. My point is that responsible individuals are suffering.
down. Our regimented schedule during the week creates sleep debt. Many students stay up late to finish homework; others stay up late to hang out with friends because there is little social time allotted during the day.
The American Sleep Disorders Association recommends that people ages 11-18 should sleep for 8 ½ to 10 hours a night because hormones critical to growth during these ages are Our notorious schedule keeps released at night. If a student students busy from 8:15 in the goes to bed at eleven and wakes morning until 10:00 at night, six up at eight, then it is possible to These are the paradoxes by days a week. We even have Satreceive nine hours of sleep. This which Holderness School tries to urday classes; our weekends last may be possible for underclassexist. My question is, how is it essentially 24 hours. This onemen, but for upperclassmen it is possible to educate our minds, day weekend is manageable for unrealistic. For teenagers, less bodies and spirits when we don't underclassmen, but upperclass- than eight hours of sleep a night have time to take care of them? men have trouble balancing eve- is deprivation. Sniffles and coughs echo in the rything without becoming run
My point is that we are sleep deprived as a school, faculty included. We do not have the time to take care of our bodies, so how do we expect to educate them? Loss of sleep means that we cannot perform our best in the classroom or on the field, so we can forget about fostering the development our mind and body. It is more difficult to measure the development of the spirit, but I can assure you that if your mind and body is suffering from lack of sleep, so is your spirit. Mr. Woodward said that the Holderness student is encouraged to relax and smell the roses. If you find the time to follow this advice don‟t hesitate to shoot me an email because I haven‟t found the time yet.
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The Picador A H o c k e y P r e v i e w : W i l l T h i s Ye a r B e D i f f e r e n t ? but the varsity boys have a better chance than anyone this “How pumped are you for year. Unfortunately, accordhockey season?” seems to be ing to football captain Alex a popular question among the Trujillo, this has often been puck heads of the school. the case, and every year the With the opening of the rink team chokes. So the question last weekend, the hockey is, will this year be different? players at Holderness are growing eager to lace up their In fact, many things are difskates for this upcoming win- ferent this year. First, the team is bringing back 13 vetter season. erans, including Andrew Many of the hockey teams are Monroe who was an amazing hoping for success this year, goalie for Holderness last By Philippe Johannson ’13
year. To add to Munroe's strong goaltending, Coach Skelley has brought in two puckmoving defensemen, Philippe Johannson and Terrance Amarosa, who will combine with the rest of the shutdown defensive core. On forward, Skell also picked up some other solid recruits, Tyler Mathieu and Will Kendrick, who will put the puck in the net for Holderness this season
and add to the talented first 3 lines. Another key asset to the team this season will be the addition of four Canadians. According to captain Shawn Watson, the team will be much stronger all around this year because they will have more depth up front and on defense. Although the team has a long (Continued on page 7)
New England Sports By Keith Bohlin ’12 New England Patriots: After a brutal loss to the G-men two Sundays ago, the Pats had a HUGE win this past week against the Jets. If they had lost, it would have been their third straight loss which hasn‟t happened since 2003. Thankfully, the entire team stepped up in New Rutherford. While the rushing game wasn‟t big for New England, Brady came up big, throwing for 329 yards and three touchdowns. Two of the touchdowns came in the fourth quarter when Brady always performs his best. The pass rush also showed up for debatably the first time this season, especially Andre Carter who accumulated 4.5 sacks and 8 total QB hits! Rob Ninkovich also played a big role for the defense, intercepting two of Sanchez‟s ducks, one for a TD. These interceptions marked the first times Sanchez had ever thrown an interception against the Patriots at home in his mediocre career. This week the Patriots take on the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night at Gillette. The Chiefs are currently 4-5 and will be without their recently injured, former Patriot QB Matt Cassel. In his spot, going up against the 32nd ranked pass defense in the league (still) will be… Tyler Palko? Enough said. The Boston Bruins: The Bruins are hot! After their three-game skid at the end of October, the Bruins have won six straight games and outscored their opponents 34-13. Tyler Seguin continues to be a monster, leading the team in points (20) and goals (11). The Bruins are now third in the league in goals per game, eighth in goals against, 14th on the power play, and tenth in the penalty kill; all much improved since our last issue! Boston has climbed out of last place in the Eastern Conference and is now in the middle of the standings for both the conference and the division. The Bruins have one more game on their home stand against Columbus before they take off to play the Islanders, the Canadiens, and the Sabres. Hopefully, the Bs can keep rolling through the month and head into the core of the season playing like they did at the end of last year. My Fantasy Teams: Apologies for the absence of this section last time; I was going through a rough stretch. Fortunately, the last two weeks have been great. Each team is 2-0, pulling out big wins over tough opponents, including a season high in points for one team. NBD. With only three weeks remaining until playoffs, Team 1, now 6-3-1, has two big matchups against top-tier teams, while Team 2, now 6-4, should breeze through the remainder of the season, as there no longer remains a team with a winning record on the schedule. Check out the next issue of The Picador for more updates. Or, if you really want to know more, just contact me personally.
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Volume 7, Issue 3 School Sports Review
Boys Fall Sports 12 10 8 6 4 2 0
Girls Fall Sports 10 8 6 4 2 0
Wins
Losses Ties
Hockey Preview (Continued from page 6)
season ahead, they have aspirations of winning the Lakes Region tournament.
The team has continued to play games throughout the United States, Canada, and
Losses Field Field Soccer Soccer Hockey Hockey (Varsity) (JV) (Varsity) (JV)
Ties
Mexico since then. “It is considered to be the best team in the world,” the website claims.
Hopes are that the match between our boys and Team The schedule this season, how- Druzhba'78 will be even when ever, is not easy; rivals Tilton they all gear up for a game on and KUA will make it hard for December 10th. the boys to get to the finals. For the varsity boys hockey Both of these schools have team, this season is filled with very strong teams, and Holderpossibility, and the puck heads ness will have to answer the are gearing up for one heck of call if they really want to be a ride. With thoughts of the Lakes Region champs. Lakes Region Championship Another great experience for title in the backs of their the team this year will be its minds, the hockey boys are exhibition game against Team hungry for a great season. Druzhba‟78, an under-18 team from the Ukraine. According to the team's website, “ „Druzhba‟ means „friendship‟ in Ukrainian and it is on this theme that their coach, Ivan Pravilov, put together a group of 10-year-old boys in 1988 to learn the sport of ice hockey. All boys on the first team were born in 1978, thus the team name.”
Wins
Senior Andrew Munroe guards the goal during a game last year against the Tilton School.
Don’t Forget! During Thanksgiving break, remember to look through all your books and bring back any gently used ones that you would like to donate to a school in Uganda. All levels of books - kindergarten to high school - will be accepted! Thanks for all your help! Page 7
The Picador A PUBLICATION BY THE STUDENTS FOR THE HOLDERNESS SCHOOL COMMUNITY
A Letter From the Editor Dear Community, In terms of athletics, the Holderness Bulls certainly experienced a thrilling ride this week. In addition to two teams making the playoffs, a member of our community was officially asked to join one of the premier lacrosse programs in college Division I sports. In addition to these season highlights, overall the Bulls ended with a winning record. Finishing the season with a close, 2-1 loss to Tilton in the first round of playoffs, the Holderness varsity field hockey athletes were able once again to maintain the playoff tradition. It is safe to say that the students who traveled to New Hampton to support the team were impressed to see not a tear shed as our senior captains walked off the field with unmatched dignity after having participated in a fierce, Fockey throw down. Beside the field hockey team on the pedestal of athletic achievement was the boys varsity soccer team, making playoffs for the second year in a row. Although the Bulls had already defeated Hebron earlier in the season, they struggled to score during the first half. Fortunately, the Bulls pushed through the Hebron defense in the dwindling minutes of the game, branding a welldeserved W on the books. Notably, Olayode Ahmed, scored two beautiful goals, making possible the win in the first round of playoffs. Good luck in your next game on Saturday! In closing, the editors of The Picador want to give a shout-out to Dickson Smith for finally sealing the deal on his moderately arduous college search; last Friday night Dickson signed his soul to the University of Virginia Division I lacrosse team. Keep up the good work and make Coach Galvin and Holderness School proud! Have a Great Vacation, James Robbins
Juniors and Seniors
You are cordially invited to attend The Silver and Gold Semi-Formal Hosted by the Weekend Activities Team and The DJ duo Kinney and Marvin January 14, 2012 8:00-10:00 PM
The Common Man Inn Plymouth, NH
Shout Outs
In and Out
HF & JB = All brains From Hand to Foot
In
Out
SM & WK = It's Always Hot When North Meets South America, eh?
Emily Soderberg
Adele
EB & OL = A Little Birdy Flying in the Sunshine
Fabian on skis
Fabian in Sneaks
11:11 on 11/11/11
Pessimism
BC = Can't wait to see your stick skills
Stumbling
Studying
HH = From the slopes to turf, this girl is killing it!
Paint
Clothes
Hey, God!
Amen
Kim's Fairytale Divorce
Kim‟s Fairytale Wedding
Baby Kails
Mono
DS = Signed on the dotted line and it's all smiles BVS = Good luck in the playoffs! - Kristina Micalizzi ’12 and Shawn Watson ’12
- @magsthemuggle, @haha_the_haha, @stephiesmeckie, @halezie