THE
OCTAGON
VOL. 40, NO.1
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Sacramento Country Day School
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2636 Latham Drive, Sacramento
Non-Profit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Sacramento, CA Permit No. 1668 @scdsoctagon
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COMBATING RACISM
H.S. teachers bring intriguing pasts to their positions
Incidents spark action from Shakespeare Festival
BY KATIA DAHMANI
Elissa Thomas Thomas said that she still had to learn some Spanish to get around, because when she got to Barranquilla, she didn’t know any. “But immersing yourself in another culture makes learning the language easier,” Thomas said. Barranquilla is known for having an amazing Carnaval celebration it’s the second biggest in the world (behind the one in Rio de Janeiro), according to Thomas. “While I was there, I had the opportunity to attend many of the Carnaval parades and celebrations, which included some beautifully intricate costumes and dancing,” she said. Thomas said that she also misses the easy beach access in Barranquilla. After two years of teaching in Colombia, Thomas decided to move back to the U.S. after she saw the online job posting for a STEM teacher at SCDS. Victoria Conner Victoria Conner last taught chemistry starting in 2003 at an alternative
NEW TEACHERS page 2 >>
‘Three-Year Swim Club’ is bestseller by new head’s wife BY ALLISON ZHANG
Two STEM experts have joined the faculty. Elissa Thomas teaches high-school computer science and mathematics, and Victoria Conner teaches high-school chemistry. Elissa Thomas Elissa Thomas has taught computer science at Arizona State University in Tempe and a K-12 school in Barranquilla, Colombia (South America). She began teaching at ASU four years ago, but said the teaching was a lot more lecture-oriented and less personal than teaching high school. “I stopped teaching college courses because I wanted to interact more with students,” she said. Thomas said research, rather than teaching, is a college professor’s top goal. “For me, making sure that the student is actually learning is more important (than getting grants),” she said. After leaving Arizona, Thomas moved on to teaching in Colombia. Thomas knew about the school there because several of her family members had taught there, and when she had visited them during Christmas, she experienced the Colombian culture. “I was instantly drawn by Colombia’s very social culture,” she said. “There was a very close-knit environment there.” Because the school was bilingual (half the classes were taught in Spanish and the other half in English), Thomas could teach in English.
September 20, 2016
Julie Checkoway, wife of head of school Lee Thomsen, is an author and documentary filmmaker. She has written two books and directed the film “Waiting for Hockney,” which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and aired on the SundanceTV channel. Her most recent book, “The Three-Year Swim Club,” is a New York Times Best Seller about a group of poverty-stricken kids from Maui who want to become Olympian swimmers. She has two daughters, Sophia and Abby Thomsen, who are a sixth grader and college freshman, respectively.
Chocolate and turban Top: Senior Emma Belliveau remains on crutches since hurting her ankle in a soccer game over in a game against Delta High School. PHOTOS BY ADAM KETCHUM
Q: Where did you grow up? A: I grew up in a really small town about an hour north of Boston in a place called Newburyport. (It’s) right on the water.
ASHLAND A.M. Jag Lally , ‘16, sips a cup of hot cocoa at Morning Glory in Ashland during the 2015 junior/senior class trip. Lally’s turban elicted a racist remark from three men in a truck, while Lally was walking in town. PHOTO BY GRACIE STRUMPFER
I
n July, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival emailed a letter to its patrons, supporters and community members about its newfound mission to bring about social justice.
BY ADAM DEAN
“You may have heard by now about the racist verbal assault directed at one of our actors, and about a death threat leveled at another female company member of color only days later,” artistic director Bill Rauch and executive director Cynthia Rider wrote. “As far too many people in our community have experienced, these are not isolated incidents - they are happening daily in Ashland, and all over our country.” English teacher Patricia Fels received the letter because SCDS high-school students have been attending the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) in Ashland every year since 1977. The next trip begins on Tuesday, Oct. 4. The letter said one of these incidents involved African-American actress Christiana Clark in June. While she was walking her dog in Ashland, a man on a bike stopped and spoke to her. He said that he could kill her and get out of jail the next day. He also said that the Ku Klux Klan still lives and thrives in Oregon, according to Clark’s June 24 Facebook post. Days later another death threat was directed at a second female actress of color. “The second occurrence came from a known resident with a mental illness,” Eddie Wallace, associate director of communications, said in a phone. “But our position is that it doesn’t take away from the fact that people of color still deal with it.” Wallace said Oregon has always had a “bad racial
history.” In fact, he noted that it was only in 2002 that the state removed a controversial part of its constitution. The passage read: “No free negro, or mulatto, not residing in this State at the time of the adoption of this constitution, shall come, reside, or be within this State, or hold any real estate.” This isn’t the first time incidents like these have occurred in Ashland. Rather, it’s just easier for victims to speak up, Wallace said. “Here in Ashland there are a lot of Confederate flags around,” Wallace said. “And it’s not uncommon for someone to be called the ‘n-word’ while walking down the street. “It just doesn’t create an environment where it’s easy to come out and share these things.” Other “microaggressions” often include people of color being followed around in stores or given inferior service, Wallace said. Jag Lally, ‘16, said he was on the receiving end of one of these microaggressions a year ago. Lally, a Sikh who wears a turban, was walking in the town to get food with two of his friends when three men in a truck pulled up beside him and told him to go back to his country. “It was an unnerving incident,” Lally said. “It’s sad that people today still say things like that.” But racist encounters with Country Day students are rare. Biology teacher Kellie Whited has chaperoned the Ashland trip for five years and said she hasn’t heard about any issues. “Everyone has always been very friendly and welcoming of our students,” Whited said. And of the three college students of color contacted
RACISM page 10 >> RECORDING STUDIO TAKES SHAPE Two sixth graders planning to take the middle-school History of Rock elective, taught by Brian Billings, try out the nearly finished recording studio. The facility will be named The Connor Burns Music Studio in memory of the seventh grader who died two years ago. However, the studio still needs to be soundproofed before it’s ready. And a mural will be painted in the entryway in the next two to three weeks. The studio will be open to all K-12 students. Students in band, orchestra or chorus - or even students who want to form their own rock band - will be encouraged to use it. Construction of the studio, which was handled by Ken Dyer Construction, began on Feb. 20. PHOTO BY BENNET SACKHEIM
Julie Checkoway Q: Where do you consider your home? A: Lee and I have lived in so many places while we’ve been married, so home has changed for me to wherever our family is - where he is and where my children are. Our home has been in Baltimore; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Athens, Georgia; Houston and Salt Lake City. (Over my) whole life I’ve lived in China and England, so my philosophy is that home is wherever you are. Q: What were you doing in China? A: I taught at a university; I was a visiting professor, and I taught literature to graduate students who were so open-minded and so hungry for information about the West and new ideas, so it was a very exciting time. I was very young - I was 24 - and I went there right after graduate school. It was at a time in China where things were just starting to open up - in 1987-88 before Tiananmen Square. I lived in an industrial city four hours south of Beijing. It was a fascinating time to teach there. Q: Did you teach in Chinese? A: I learned Chinese but not very well, so I did teach in English. Q: Where did you go to college, and what was your major? A: I went to Harvard College, and I majored in English with a concentration in creative writing. Q: Why did you decide to write “The Three-Year Swim Club”? A: I’ve been a writer my entire life. Writers are always looking for a good story - the story of a lifetime. So ev-
CHECKOWAY page 3 >>
2
THE OCTAGON
NEWS
September 20, 2016
Former faculty immerse themselves in new jobs
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hree high-school faculty members who left the school in June are challenging themselves with very different jobs.
version of “Narnia” (the closet in the Matthews Library). “It’s a small room tucked away next to the small gym with a twinsized bed and a cozy chair,” she said. “I don’t know why it’s there, but BY NICOLE WOLKOV I’m making it my mission to figure it out.” Michael Cvetich, former technolMollie Hawkins, former assistant ogy support specialist, is now a sevlibrarian, is now working as a copy- enth- and eighth-grade humanities writer for Adventist Health’s corpo- teacher and technology coordinator rate headquarters in Roseville. at Nantucket Lighthouse School on Hawkins said her day-to-day Nantucket Island, 100 miles south of work varies because the company is Boston. The school is in downtown working on a rebranding campaign. Nantucket and a six-minute walk However, she has spent most of her from the beach. time writing articles for the company “I love that this school has a primagazines, blogs and promo-video mary focus on the emotional and soscripts, and conducting phone incial growth of students,” he said. terviews. According to Cvetich, the “I never know what the day school is 16 years old and teachwill bring,” she said. es pre-kindergarten through “For instance, the second eighth grade to a little over day on the job they had me 100 students. fly down to Burbank to Cvetich said that help shoot a video in the school is similar ‘I FELT LIKE one of the hospitals. It to SCDS in that each was wild! educator has autonomy AN AWK“I felt like an awkto shape their curricuWARD ward Barbara Walters.” lum in a way that most ßARBARA Hawkins said that effectively teaches their she likes having a lot students. They have a WALTERS’ of variety in what she garden the students MOLLIE gets to write because it work in, a strong sense HAWKINS keeps her sharp. of community, and facAlthough her job as ulty who are very close a copywriter is differto the students. ent from that of yearbook adviser, she Although Cvetich said that he’s said that there is an online “yearbook” thrilled to be surrounded by educaof all the corporate employees, which tors, the decision to move was diffican be useful for writing stories. cult. “The major difference from SCDS “I had to leave SCDS, sell almost is that they use PCs!” she said. all of my personal items, and move According to Hawkins, the build- across the country,” he said. ing in which she works has its own “I had to leave behind the teams
(continued from page 1) public high school in Bedford Brooklyn 10 years ago. Her students, she said, were 17- to 21-year-olds who hadn’t done well in their original school but still wanted to succeed. “The students at the school were similar to ones that go to Country Day in regards that both really do value education and want to do well,” Conner said. “Some obvious differences between the students are their ages and
I coached and the colleagues I had and diagnostic equipment. come to know. It was not an easy ‘It’s been very exciting, and I’ve choice. While thrilled to begin learned a lot,” Tellez said. this new challenge, the one I left “I like that it’s people-orientbehind will always be full of what ed. When I did research (before ifs.” coming to SCDS), I was in Joe Tellez, former chema lab and didn’t get to inistry teacher, also teract with people moved, but not very much.” far. Although Tellez ‘THE HARDEST THING said that there isn’t He currently lives in the Bay much crossover ABOUT LEAVING Area, where he between teachSCDS WAS THE works as an account ing and managing STUDENTS’ manager for Biobusiness at a bioRad, a company tech company, he JOE TELLEZ that sells medical said that teaching
Pennsylvania Police Department, advising the police on Constitutional matters involving the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. Later Conner worked at a veterans’ law clinic, helping people who didn’t have the money to afford a lawyer. “I didn’t go to law school to besocio-economic backgrounds.” come a lawAfter teaching yer,” Conner chemistry for four said. “I went years, Conner stopped for the eduand went to law school cation I could ‘(CHEMISTRY) IS ALSO because one of her stuget to better dents was murdered. A WAY OF LOOKING understand the “The circumstances AT THE WORLD AND legal system of his death made me and rules, and SOLVING PROBLEMS’ angry, so I went to law then apply this school to get a better VICTORIA CONNER, knowledge to understanding of the TEACHER help others.” legal system,” Conner In 2010, said. Conner beDuring and after came a conattending the Widener School of Law in Wilmington, sultant for plastic companies. There Delaware, Conner worked with the she did market research, looking for new compounds that could make the companies’ products more attractive to consumers. “An upside was that working for these companies kept me very current in what was happening in the chemical industry,” she said. Conner said she was able to watch new products develop, such as new additives and colors companies could use to enhance their products’ compounds. Conner said that she likes teaching chemistry because of its hands-on qualities. “You can get your hands
New teachers: Law-school grad comes back to chemistry BY KATIA DAHMANI
NEW FACES Michael Cvetich stands with his new class in Nantucket. Cvetich teaches seventh- and eighth-grade humanities at Nantucket Lighthouse School. PHOTO USED BY PERMISSION OF MICHAEL CVETICH
dirty and get instant results,” Conner said. “I want students to see that chemistry isn’t just a class that they’re required to take, but it’s also a way of looking at the world and solving problems.” Conner accepted the SCDS job offer in July because she and her family (her son, daughter and husband) were relocating from Pennsylvania to California to be closer to her husband’s family, who lives in California. Some of Conner’s hobbies include traveling, reading, watching movies and hiking. Conner said she has traveled to Bangkok, Beijing, all over Europe, Israel, and wherever she could get a
has helped in his new job. “I didn’t have to break down a concept when I taught graduate or doctoral students,” he said. “Teaching at SCDS was really beneficial for learning how to break down concepts.” However, now that Tellez works in a company, he doesn’t have daily interaction with young people. “I always had a lot of fun with the students in my class,” he said. “The hardest thing about leaving SCDS was the students, especially the ones I had formed relationships with. I was looking forward to seeing them graduate.”
cheap ticket before she had children. “Now that my kids are old enough, traveling is definitely a priority,” she said. “Traveling is a great education tool because you get to learn a lot about the world and yourself by doing it.” Conner’s favorite book is “A Confederacy of Dunces” by John Kennedy Toole. She said that she’s also a big fan of old Japanese movies because they have a lot of interesting philosophies in them, and currently her favorite movie is “Rashomon.” In “Rashomon,” four characters describe their version of a man’s murder, and the philosophy of justice and human nature is explored.
NEW SOLUTIONS Victoria Conner demonstrates a reaction prior to having her students perform the experiment. PHOTO BY KEVIN HUANG
THE OCTAGON
September 20, 2016
NEWS
3
Checkoway: Book research takes eight years (continued from page 1) -ery story that I’ve done has felt - at its time - like the story of a lifetime. You live with that story for a while, and you go deep. (“The Three-Year Swim Club”) was the story that so touched me and impressed me because of the achievements of the swimmers. But it was striking to me that no one had ever told this story, so it was both an incredible opportunity, but (also) an incredible responsibility to bring that story to life. It was a pleasure to do it because getting to dig into a piece of history that had never been told was just the most exciting project I’ve ever worked on.
HOMEWORK ON THE GO Sixth grader Vivian Bair views her history homework on her school-issued Chromebook. Middle-school students’ homework handouts are uploaded as PDFs on Dropbox, where students can view them via any device. PHOTO BY BENETT SACKHEIM
Sixth graders get Chromebook laptops custom-made for schools BY QUIN LACOMB
S
ixth graders have been given new Chromebook laptops, replacing the iPads middle-school students have been using since 2010. It’s not that the iPads weren’t working well, according to Tom Wroten, director of technology. “But we’re always questioning the technology,” he said. The lack of a keyboard, backing up and syncing difficulties, and poor durability were among the problems Wroten mentioned. So Wroten bought a number of different Chromebooks in January and brought them to a faculty meeting for teachers to try out. Wroten said that after discussing the pros and cons of the different models and how they worked in comparison to the iPads, the faculty chose the Lenovo N22 model. “They’re education-built devices, so you can’t go to the store to buy one,” Wroten said. “They’re specifically for schools,
built for students.” According to Wroten, the all-around response has been good so far. “They’re lightweight, their screen bends all the way down, they have a flipping camera so they can record in front and behind them, they have a keyboard and they’re drop-resistant,” he said. The Chromebooks also cost only $199, much less than the iPads, which are listed as $500, not including the educational discount. However, Wroten said that their price wasn’t a consideration. Ed Bolman, a sixth-grade math and history teacher, said he likes that the new Chromebooks can use Google Docs whereas the iPads could use only an abbreviated version. Other advantages, he said, are that the Chromebooks have keyboards and the students like them because they feel that they have their own laptops. “I get about six to 12 emails nightly asking for help,” Bolman said. “The Chromebooks give the students the ability to communicate, especially since
it’s easier over email for some kids.” However, Bolman added that he “kind of ” preferred the “tablet aspect” of the iPads. “The Chromebooks turn flat, but the physical orientation is different,” Bolman said. “That doesn’t necessarily affect me, but it does affect what the kids are looking at.” Sandy Lyon, head of the middle school, said that the only problem so far is printing from the Chromebooks, which is more difficult than from an iPad and hasn’t yet been set up effectively. The Chromebooks also can’t use the same apps as the iPads, but Wroten said that the teachers would sometimes change the apps on the iPads anyway. He also said that he has iPads available for teachers if they need them. Wroten said that it doesn’t matter to him - and shouldn’t matter to the students - what the device is. “We’re not teaching a specific device,” Wroten said. “We’re teaching technology efficiency, to use it as a tool.”
Chromebook advantages • • • • • •
Drop-resistant Cheaper Webcam can flip front and back Backing up and syncing is better Easier to access and use websites Has a keyboard and built-in handle
Chromebook disadvantages •
• •
Can’t lie flat on desks, making it hard for teachers to know what students are doing Printing is more difficult Doesn’t have apps like the iPad
High-school play needs more actors BY JACKSON MARGOLIS
DOUBLE THREAT Senior Austin Talamantes (right) acts in last year’s spring play, “The Paper Chase.” This year, Talamantes will be one of the five seniors playing double roles. PHOTO BY GRACIE STRUMPFER
Although it has a cast of only nine, the high-school play “LOVE/SICK” still needs a few more actors, according to director Brian Frishman. The show was written by John Cariani and is a collection of nine 10-minute skits with two actors in each. “LOVE/SICK” has a scripted cast of 18, but Frishman hopes to pull it off with fewer people. “Some students will play multiple characters.” Frishman said. “We have eight or nine, but we need more female actors.” The play contains a themat-
ic throughline of both love and pain, Frishman said. It will be performed Thursday, Nov. 17, and Friday, Nov. 18. Unlike Cariani’s “Almost Maine” (performed several years ago by the high school), this darker comedic romance shows the imperfections of relationships. Even though a Washington Post story revealed that over a quarter of U.S. citizens are afraid of public speaking, Frishman doesn’t think that’s the reason students aren’t auditioning. Instead, he said it’s because of homework load and other extracurricular activities.
“Having night rehearsals eliminates some people from being able to participate,” Frishman said. “At Country Day, since it’s so academically rigorous, some students who would want to participate can’t because they’re panicked about grades.” As of now, not a single student in the year-round drama elective is is in the play.
“(The class is) mostly people who are trying to get their elective requirements and not necessarily interested in acting,” Frishman said.
DRAMA page 10 >>
Q: How did you research it? A: The research process was very extensive. It took me eight years to write the book, and it involved archival work: diving into newspapers from that era - the 1930s and 1940s; reading those newspapers and having them translated because a lot of the newspapers were from Maui and were written in Japanese; finding Hawaiian newspapers written in Hawaiian; and trying to go through people’s scrapbooks and their collections of personal items. It also involved traveling to Hawaii a lot and being on the ground and interviewing people who had lived the story. That was the eight-year process of trying to put the pieces together of a story that existed in scrapbooks. Q: What was the biggest challenge about writing the book? A: The biggest challenge of doing the book was not the research - I loved every moment of the research. But when I sat down to write, I felt a tremendous responsibility to get the story right. That was the hardest thing - I wanted to tell as true a story as a journalist as I could. I wanted every fact to be absolutely verifiable, so I was checking my sources and making sure that I wasn’t saying something that did a disservice to the true story. Q: What was your documentary film about? A: That was a quirky documentary about an artist in Baltimore who was seeking attention from a very famous British-born, Los Angeles-based artist named David Hockney. This young artist just wanted the attention of David Hockney as a mentor, and we followed him in the film for 10 years as he makes a portrait and tries to bring this to David Hockney’s attention. The film is called “Waiting for Hockney,” and it’s not so much about the artist alone as it is about what it means to finally meet the god of your own making - the person who you think will validate you. It’s a comic movie, but it’s also quite tragic. It’s a fun movie to watch, but it’s meant to get people to think about what they value in life: do they value their work, or do they value the results of their work? Q: Do you have any other hobbies? A: No. I’m one of those people whose work is her hobby. I get the most pleasure out of that, though I do yoga and meditate; those are things that give me balance in life. I never look at anything in life as a hobby.
Read the full Q&A and watch an interview with Julie Checkoway @ www. scdsoctagon.com.
4
THE OCTAGON
SPORTS
September 20, 2016
Young team more cohesive than coach expected But strong Woodland Christian proves a formidable opponent in tough non-league game
D
espite suffering a decisive 3-0 loss to Woodland Christian, the girls’ volleyball team has still exceeded their coaches’ expectations.
BY CHARDONNAY NEEDLER
Although their 6-25, 16-25, 17-25 loss to Woodland was shocking to some team members, going into the game coach Jason Kreps had predicted this would be the hardest one of the preseason since Woodland was the runner-up in their division (Div. IV) last year. And senior Alexa Mathisen, team captain, said that the loss against these formidable players gave the girls a new perspective. “The last few games, we’ve been winning,” Mathisen said. “So this was a good way to see that there are always teams that are better than us and that there’s always room to improve.” At press time the team had a season record of 1-0 and a preseason record of 3-2. They have beaten Victory Christian, Cristo Rey, Cornerstone Chris-
Upcoming: 9/20: 6 p.m. against Buckingham Charter at Vaca Pena 9/21: 6 p.m. against El Dorado Adventist at SCDS 9/24: Carmichael Invitational 9/27: 6 p.m. against Faith Christian at Faith Christian 9/29: 6 p.m. against Sacramento Adventist at SCDS
tian and Forest Lake Christian; they’ve lost to Bradshaw Christian and Woodland. And both Kreps and co-coach Sarah Song say they’re pleased with that record. “The preseason games have told us that we are a strong team and that we have the ability to work well together,” Kreps said. Before the season began, Kreps said he was worried that the loss of last year’s strong seniors would keep the team from coming together. “I wasn’t sure how we were going to mesh and gel since we lost four starters,” Kreps said. “But everyone’s accepted a role on the team, and it’s nice to see that ev-
Lyon’s 6th Annual Coat Drive October 1 – 31, 2016
eryone’s getting experience and time.” “We have a really aggressive serve, and that’s our main asset.” Neverthless, the young players on the team worried Kreps. In several games the girls have been losing their energy and motivation towards the end of the game, according to sophomores Heidi Johnson and Lia Kaufman. “We seem to be a little flat at the end,” Kaufman said. “We stop talking or going for easy balls.” But in the pivotal game against Woodland, they didn’t have enough motivation to start with. “We didn’t have a great attitude coming into it, and losing so badly in the first game put us in a bad mindset,” junior Yasmin Gupta said. Mathisen said she hopes that the Woodland loss will project them out of this constant lack of motivation. “This makes us more aware,” Mathisen said. “We were in a lull after playing two easy games in a row.
Going into this game, we thought we were going to be automatically better. “This teaches us that we can’t be complacent and that we still have to work hard every day and (not) just sit back.” All this aside, Kreps said he has high hopes for the season. “We’ve grown tremendously already,” he said. “I want them to continue to lean on each other, come together and work for each other. “Volleyball is a game of errors, and after an error you just have to move on and learn from it.” Kreps said that if the girls follow that advice, work together and play to enjoy the game, they have a large chance of achieving their goals. “We could definitely be league champs,” he said. “It’s a realistic goal.” SUPER SPIKE Above, sophomore Tori Van Vleck attempts a hit in the Sept. 7 Cornerstone Christian game. Right, in the same game, junior Yasmin Gupta reaches to block the ball. The Cavs won the point after Gupta’s defensive block. PHOTOS BY KEVIN HUANG
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THE OCTAGON
September 20, 2016
SPORTS
5
Soccerless buddies pump up cross-country team Team flourishes with new runners; now look to add experience on way to challenge for league
Dean are also very excited about the big team, which they think will give them a better chance to qualify for state. ast year the cross-country team had a In addition, they say cross-country will get single runner. This year’s team has 12, them in shape for soccer. the biggest team since 2010: nine boys “If you have amazing skill as a soccer playand three girls. er but can’t run for longer than 10 minutes, it That’s because of a decision made by the Cal- doesn’t do a whole lot for your team,” Dean said. ifornia Interscholastic Federation in April 2015 Kaufman agreed. that moved the boys’ and girls’ soccer seasons to “I am mainly doing cross-country for soccer winter, leaving the male soccer players without season because I want to be physically ready,” their usual fall sport. he said. “The 200 schools in our section voted stateNot surprisingly, the team of first-year runwide to change soccer from a fall sport to a winners had a rocky start at their opening meet ter sport,” athletic director Matt Vargo said. on Aug. 26. Van Vleck, Cunningham, ErickIn addition, the team atson, Trapp and Dean placed tracted classmates of soccer 158th, 164th, 166th, 180th players, who wanted to run and 184th in a race of 185 with their friends. runners at Lodi High School. “I only had one runner last ‘I ONLY HAD ONE In their next meet howevyear, so it’s nice to just be able er, Kaufman placed 41st, one RUNNER LAST YEAR, to say ‘team’,” coach Nick spot away from a medal. Domich said. SO IT’S NICE TO JUST “Theo might become the “I have had more middle BE ABLE TO SAY fastest runner I have ever schoolers than high schoolers coached,” Domich said. ‘TEAM.’ (on the team) these past few And freshman Zak NICK DOMICH, COACH years, but now the opposite is Wright placed 11th in the true.” first meet in the boys’ twoSophomore Heidi Johnmile freshman race. son, the lone runner last year, “Zak might be a faster runner than Theo one agreed with Domich. day,” Domich said. “It is really nice to be able to practice with a Wright ran for Oak Hill Racing, a club team,” she said. cross-country team, last year and hopes to run “It helps me push myself more.” for the club again this year. First-time runners junior Theo Kaufman and Wright started cross-country in seventh seniors Emil Erickson, Christian Van Vleck, grade. Initially, he was good at the sport, he said, Aidan Cunningham, Jaelan Trapp and Adam
BY BRIANA DAVIES
L
HIGH STEPPERS All cross-country members, both high schoolers and middle schoolers, participate in high steppers to warm up their legs before running. PHOTO BY BENETT SACKHEIM
so he decided to stick with it. “Cross-country was a good way for me to make friends at Country Day coming into school as a freshman transfer,” Wright said. So far the boys are third in Div. V in a close race with the top four teams.
Upcoming: 9/24: Pacific Tiger High School Invitational 9/28: 4th Annual Foothill Showcase 10/1: Capital Cross Challenge
Varsity Boys’ 3-Mile:
Theo Kaufman,17:41.6 Zak Wright, 19:00.1 Aidan Cunningham,19:59.9 Christian Van Vleck, 21:8.7 Emil Erickson, 22:17.7 Varsity Girls’ 3-Mile:
Riya Rampalli, 25:05.3
10/8: The Other Meet 10/15: Hoka One One Bronco Invitational
Mackenzie McLeod, 25:51
10/22: FLAT SAC Invitational
GETTING THEIR WARM-UP ON Senior Aidan Cunningham and freshman Zak Wright run two warm-up laps around the baseball field before cross-country practice. PHOTO BY BENETT SACKHEIM
BEAR BOYS The whole cross-country team completes another part of their warm-up, bear crawls. Bear crawls improve the boys’ ability to recover quickly if they stumble during a race. PHOTO BY BENETT SACKHEIM
Sports Boosters’ Athletes of the Month Theo Kaufman
Kaufman was the top finisher at Lagoon Valley with a time of 18:40.0 and Granite Park with a time of 17:41.6. Coach Nick Domich said that Kaufman has taken on the role of team leader on hill and interval days. He is still a beginner at cross-country, however, Domich is excited to see where he will go.
Freshman/Sophomore 2-mile:
Avi Bhullar
Bhullar has run two half marathons in the last two school years. She is training for the Berkeley Half Marathon and then for a full marathon in June. Bhullar said she loves to run because of the challenge. “I do it because it’s so rough and painful, but it feels really good at the end,” she said.
8
THE OCTAGON
EDITORIAL THE OCTAGON
September 20, 2016
“Job Interview” by Mohini Rye
PRINT EDITORS-IN-CHIEF ADAM DEAN MARIGOT FACKENTHAL
By Nicole Wolkov
ONLINE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SONJA HANSEN
No, I’m not going to a funeral - I just dress like this!
BUSINESS MANAGER CHARDONNAY NEEDLER PRINT COPY EDITOR QUIN LACOMB ONLINE COPY EDITOR SAHEJ CLAIRE NEWS EDITOR MARIGOT FACKENTHAL FEATURE EDITOR ANNYA DAHMANI OPINION EDITOR KATIA DAHMANI SPORTS EDITOR ADAM DEAN SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR JACK CHRISTIAN PAGE EDITORS JACK CHRISTIAN ANNYA DAHMANI KATIA DAHMANI ADAM DEAN MARIGOT FACKENTHAL CHARDONNAY NEEDLER MOHINI RYE NICOLE WOLKOV ALLISON ZHANG REPORTERS LARKIN BARNARD-BAHN EMMA BOERSMA BRIANA DAVIES ANNA FRANKEL MEG GRIEVE MEHDI LACOMBE JACKSON MARGOLIS HÉLOÏSE SCHEP SPENCER SCOTT GARRETT SHONKWILER DAVID SITU REBECCA WATERSON CARTOONIST MOHINI RYE MULTIMEDIA & TECH QUIN LACOMB MAC SCOTT PHOTOGRAPHERS JACQUELINE CHAO KEVIN HUANG BENETT SACKHEIM ADVISER PATRICIA FELS The OcTagOn is The high-schOOl newspaper Of sacramenTO cOunTry Day. iTs purpOse is TO prOviDe a reliable sOurce Of infOrmaTiOn On evenTs cOncerning The high schOOl anD TO fOcus On TOpics Of significance anD general inTeresT in OrDer TO infOrm anD enTerTain The enTire schOOl cOmmuniTy. The sTaff sTrives fOr accuracy anD freeDOm frOm bias in iTs sTOries. significanT errOrs will be nOTeD anD cOrrecTeD. The OcTagOn shall publish maTerial ThaT The sTaff Deems in The besT inTeresT Of The schOOl cOmmuniTy. The sTaff recOgnizes The impOrTance Of The reaDership’s having accuraTe anD reliable infOrmaTiOn in OrDer TO be well infOrmeD anD On which TO base DecisiOns anD OpiniOns. The OcTagOn will publish all Timely anD relevanT news, subjecT TO The fOllOwing excepTiOns: ObsceniTy; slanDerOus Or libelOus maTerial; maTerial cOnTrary TO The besT inTeresTs Of The schOOl cOmmuniTy, as juDgeD by The newspaper sTaff anD aDviser.
eDiTOrials shall be vOTeD On by The enTire sTaff. cOlumns anD cOmmenTaries shall be clearly labeleD as such anD represenT The OpiniOn Of The auThOr Only.
in The inTeresT Of represenTing all pOinTs Of view, leTTers TO The eDiTOr shall be publisheD, space permiTTing, unless OTherwise requesTeD by The auThOr. all leTTers musT be signeD anD cOnfOrm TO The abOve resTricTiOns On publisheD maTerial. The sTaff reTains The righT TO make changes in grammar anD puncTuaTiOn anD TO abriDge leTTers fOr space cOnsiDeraTiOns.
My Angle
EDITORIAL: One fewer custodian means much dirtier campus
P
ick up your trash! Take home your textbooks! Wipe your feet before entering a classroom! Our campus needs all the help it can get now that the night-maintenance crew is short-handed. Over the summer, custodian Matt Liedtke was promoted from the night-shift crew to the day shift when he also drives the school bus, leaving his fellow night custodians, Sanjesh Prasad and Dhinesh Kumar, to pick up the slack. A replacement for Liedtke has not been looked for because the budget, weakened by low enrollment, will not allow it, according to Jay Holman, director of the physical plant. However, Holman said that he is hopeful that in the following months a new night custodian will be hired because late tuition fees will come trickling in during the first few weeks of school. Holman said that for the time being, lacking custodians is “hard on everyone.” The PE department is one of the groups most affected by the insufficient number of custodians. Michelle Myers, physical education department chair, said that the department has been vacuuming the carpet outside
Orchids
&
Onions
the PE office, disinfecting the sponsibility and respect for their water fountains, doors and hansurroundings. SCDS students dles, and sanitizing the locker might do well to learn these life rooms and bathrooms while skills. completing other maintenance Myers said that she would tasks in the gym since the bebe grateful if a team of students ginning of the school year. would be willing to check on However, Myers said that the the restrooms and locker rooms PE teachers every now and can’t take care then during of the gym lunch. on their own. However, THE SWEAT AND Last week, a our demanding BLOOD LEFT BEHIND Coke spill reschedules and mained on the classes teach us BY ATHLETES CAN gym floor for responsibility in CARRY DANGEROUS several days, other ways, so and students we don’t alILLNESSES unknowingly ways have time tracked the to vacuum the sticky syrup carpets or wipe across campus. down the desks. And teachers have enough In addition, she pointed out on their plates without the addithat the gym has the highest tional burden of having to keep traffic flow of all areas on campus. Lower-, middle- and high- their rooms spick and span. Myers said that the PE deschool students enter the gym partment’s biggest concern is almost every day for athletics, keeping the campus safe. The the whole campus is packed sweat and blood left behind by into the gym for pep rallies, and athletes can carry dangerous athletes shuffle in and out for illnesses, so students should not games every other day. attempt to handle any contamiPerhaps we have become a nated surfaces. bit spoiled. Schools in Japan Obviously, the best solution require their students to clean is to hire a new custodian, and their classrooms and do not we highly recommend that the hire custodians, according to administration make this one of senior Marigot Fackenthal. This their top budget priorities. is meant to teach students re-
On picture day, seniors run in and out of classrooms wearing crazy hats, rainbow shirts and even fat suits. I, too, dressed crazily that day. Who wouldn’t want to be part of the fun? I wore my mother’s orange cocktail dress and a bright pink headband. I didn’t look too out of the ordinary, although perhaps a bit vibrantly dressed. But for me, this was a complete 180, and I did not recognize myself. When I look in the mirror, I expect to see a long black skirt, black top, black sweater, black stockings and black boots. I’ve been told that I dress like I’m about to attend a funeral in 1885. Why? Surely it’s to express the morose nature of my soul and the ache of my heart. Actually, no. 1) It’s simple. Everything matches. I never have to worry if clothes don’t “look good” together, as everything I own goes with everything else. Then why not choose another color? Well, white and gray become dirty and stained easily, and brown is just an awful color. 2) One load of wash. I never have to worry about anything bleeding through the wash. Although it’s quite irritating when my blacks don’t match. 3) Shopping becomes easy. As someone who’s never enjoyed shopping, I’d like to reduce the time it takes to buy new clothes. If it’s not black, I don’t take it off the rack. My favorite stores are the ones that sort clothing by color (usually consignment stores). It cuts my shopping time in half, if not more! 4) Fashion. Just as I choose to paint my nails or cut my hair, I choose to wear black. Surprisingly, although my wardrobe has remained monochromatic for six years, I still endure questions about my choice of fashion and family members attempting to coax me into wearing color. “Why don’t you wear red? It’s your favorite color. You used to wear color when you were little.” Now I have a compromise with my family. I’ll wear color (my mother’s clothing) if she will wear my clothing for the same extent of time. I don’t mind the questions. After all, I admit that with all of the long black lace skirts I own, I do look like I belong at a Victorian funeral - but a high-fashion one.
ORCHIDS to. . . Student Council for creating new, safer rules for Ancil Hoffman. There were fewer people hurt this year than in years past. ONIONS to. . . students who stop at their lockers before morning meeting. Student Council is trying to make meetings go by faster. ORCHIDS to. . . Ms. B for making her classroom a quiet haven during elective for students who want to study. We appreciate that! ONIONS to. . . the tree in the high-school quad that constantly covers the quad in a sticky, sappy substance. Who planted that tree, anyway?
THE OCTAGON
September 20, 2016
OPINION
9
‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’
Script based on series is darker, reaches older audiences BY HÉLOÏSE SCHEP By the time I was in the second grade, I had developed an immense passion for reading. I had read every book my parents had ever given me, so, desperate to find something new, my mother gave me a book that would change my life: “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” Once I opened it, I was sucked in by the story - this book blew my 7-year-old mind. The details! The plot! The characters! I read book after book, staying up late to finish just one more chapter. So I was thrilled when I heard there would be an eighth Harry Potter book coming out in July.
Well, it’s not a real book. “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” is the script for the play of the same name by J.K. Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne. Harry is now a 40-year-old overworked employee at the Ministry of Magic, the husband of Ginny Weasley and the father of three children. The book’s main character is Albus Severus Potter, Harry’s youngest son, who struggles with his father’s legacy and fitting in at Hogwarts. Harry and Albus cannot connect very well, and often fight. Albus becomes so angry at his father that he jumps out of the Hogwarts Express with Scorpius Malfoy, hoping to never return to the wizarding world. Albus, Scorpius and Delphi, Amos’s son, embark on a journey. The play’s three authors have very different backgrounds: Rowling has always been an author, whereas Tiffany has been a director on Broadway and Thorne has written scripts for television, radio, theater and film. Tiffany’s and Thorne’s additions make the book darker. Although the first part
of the play provides the reader with new details about life in the wizarding world, scenes three and four are filled with darker themes. “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” doesn’t shy away from discussing anxiety, depression and violence, which makes the play more suitable for adult readers. But the writing style in “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” also has many positive sides. Although readers will miss Rowling’s creativity and the elaborate universe she creates in the books, Thorne has a great understanding of the dynamics and themes in previous books: the tension between destiny and free will and the role that loneliness and anger plays in fueling hate. The relationship between Albus and Harry is one of the more serious themes. Albus hates being the son of “the Chosen One,” and he’s filled with anger at the expectations placed on him. Though Albus has a lot in common with young Harry - feelings of being an outsider and a desire to prove himself - he is also at odds with his father, whose overprotective parenting leads to unhealthy bonds between them. Nevertheless, “Cursed Child” fits in really well with the other Harry Potter books. The characters are complex, the themes are consistent and the plot is unpredictable.
Fantasy novel has thrilling cliffhangers, plot twists BY SAHEJ CLAIRE
Book includes alternate storylines to ‘play’ BY QUIN LACOMB If you’ve ever read “Romeo and Juliet” and wondered “Why did they do that?!” at any point in the play, then “Romeo and/or Juliet” is the book for you. “Romeo and/or Juliet” combines the well-known play with a choose-your-own-adventure style of writing, and it does that quite well. It’s written by Ryan North, who worked on many popular comics and comedy shows such as “Adventure Time” and “Dinosaur Comics.” The book starts by stating that Shakespeare’s play wasn’t in fact original. Rather he just took his choices from this book and wrote a play following them. Who knew? North uses this claim of “plagiarism” to his advantage by highlighting Shakespeare’s choices so the reader can follow what he did. This path is great because it summarizes “Romeo and Juliet” effectively, but also manages to do it in modern English and with a sense of humor. But, being a choose-your-own-adventure book, “Romeo and/or Juliet” also allows you to make your own choices and see how the story unfolds. Perhaps instead of taking Shakespeare’s route and focusing on Romeo at the start, you want to see what Juliet’s doing. Romeo and Juliet are both exaggerated and changed. Romeo is a lovestruck weakling with no foresight whereas Juliet is, as the book puts it, “actually SUPER RIPPED.” And even beyond the two main characters, you can play as secret characters that you have to “unlock.” As the back of the book says, “That’s right. We figured out how to have unlockable characters in books.” But past choosing whom you want to focus on, you get to choose what they do. Does Romeo want to talk to Benvolio, or does he actually want to avoid conversation by
hiding in a trash can? You decide. Naturally, most choices will affect the ending of your story. When I/Romeo chose to choke to death on my breakfast, I/Romeo (big surprise) choked to death on my breakfast. But not all endings are as straightforward. There are dozens to discover. The weirdest ending I reached in my five-or-so hours of reading was the one in which Juliet uses Romeo’s corpse as a weapon against ninjas but is ultimately defeated. I honestly have no idea how it came to that. To top it off, each ending is brilliantly illustrated. There’s a team of about 90 artists who each drew one ending. Each artist has his/her own style, which makes for quite the collection of illustrations. The book also includes two mini stories that follow the plots of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “Pyramus and Thisbe” (the play within the play of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”). They’re both enjoyable as side stories. All in all, “Romeo and/ or Juliet” is a great read. You can get a funny summary of the actual play, or you can venture off the beaten path and find out how Romeo became Juliet’s glove - literally!
Maas weaves a tale of dramatic intrigue and lightning-fast plot twists that truly lives up to the title. Sarah J. Maas, New York Times In addition to a riveting plot, bestselling author of the “Throne Maas creates incredibly realistic of Glass” (TOG) and “A Court of characters that seem to walk off the Thorns and Roses” (ACOTAR) se- pages. ries, is famous for giving her readShe does this by so thoroughly ers what are lovingly dubbed “book detailing the characters - considhangovers.” ering flaws, backstories, quirks and And I’m no exception. unique personalities - you can’t beThe second book of the ACO- lieve they’re fictional. TAR series, “A Court of Mist and Maas also introduces seemingFury,” was published during AP ly insignificant elements in early tests in May, and I read it in June. books that, four books later, have I still haven’t recovered. become integral parts of the plot. So I wasn’t surprised when, afAnd while we’re stuck on her ter reading Maas’s newest installclever manipulament, “Empire of tion, we come to Storms,” I was just the last piece of as emotionally Maas’s trifecta of ‘MAAS HAS A TALoverwhelmed. skills: cliffhangers. The long-awaitENT FOR CREATING Although they ed “Empire of don’t so much kill INCREDIBLY REALISStorms” was reas mildly maim TIC CHARACTERS.’ leased Sept. 6 as you, Maas’s thrillthe fifth book in ing cliffhangers TOG. will raise hairs The series ceneven when you have chapters left ters around Celaena Sardothien, an to go. 18-year-old assassin offered free“Empire of Storms” is marketed dom from the will of a heartless as a young adult novel, and there are king when she is summoned to his mature scenes. However, they don’t castle. detract from the story. “If she defeats twenty-three killThroughout the series, readers see ers, thieves and warriors in a com- the incredible strength of the female petition, she is released from prison characters on their thrilling jourto serve as the king’s champion,” neys. Many young-adult fantasies Maas’s site says. center around romance, but Maas “But something evil dwells in has found the balance between relathe castle of glass - and it’s there tionships and independence. to kill. When her competitors start Rather than being unnecessarily dying one by one, Celaena’s fight interjected, Maas’s more passionate for freedom becomes a fight for scenes add to the reality of the stosurvival and a desperate quest to ryline and its characters. root out the evil before it destroys If I haven’t convinced you, look her world.” to the millions of fans - including Celaena’s story continues in my father, who hadn’t finished a fic“Empire of Storms,” in which tion book in years and is now racing Maas blends humor, romance through the TOG series. and epic adventure in the perfect Not only is the plot an incredible fantasy novel. thrill, Maas’s moving narrative will Within the emotional roll- impress even the non-fiction stickercoaster of hilarious banter lers and leave you wishing you could and heart-stopping moments, read it all over again.
10
THE OCTAGON
REMAINDER
September 20, 2016
Racism: Some playgoers object to black actors in white roles (continued from page 1)
cording to a story by the National Coalition Against Censorship. by the Octagon, none reported being “Little Black Sambo” was banned racially harassed. because it portrays blacks as unsani“Fortunately for me I had no such tary, having large appetites and havencounters on my class trips,” Savan- ing a love for brightly colored clothnah Symister, ‘14, said. ing, Wallace said. Nonetheless, trying to prevent inIn July, cast members of “The Wiz” cidents like these is one of the reasons entered the bookstore to ask the shop the Shakespeare Festival has taken owner to change the display of the this new mission. books because they found it discon“We feel we have the role of mak- certing, according to Wallace. ing this a welcoming community The owner initially moved “Little with the diverse audience and staff Black Sambo.” But after hearing that that we bring in,” Wallace said. the actors had told their peers about This year is the the encounter, he first time in the moved the book company’s history back next to “The ‘WE FEEL WE HAVE that more than 50 Wonderful Wizpercent of its actors ard of Oz.” THE ROLE OF MAKare of color, he said. In response, the ING THIS A WELCOMPart of this is due Oregon ShakeING COMMUNITY,’ to the high number speare Festival of minority roles in sent a private EDDIE WALLACE “The Winter’s Tale” email to the bookand “The Wiz.” store stating that “The Wiz” is a modern Afri- company would be boycotting it. can-American telling of “The Won“We sit with our company memderful Wizard of Oz.” bers,” Julie Cortez, communications The company recently boycotted manager, said. “We’re not going to a local bookstore after an incident buy from someone who treats us disinvolving a banned children’s book respectfully.” that contains racist stereotypes about Another point of racial controverblacks. sy is the company’s decision to use “Little Black Sambo” was displayed actors of color in traditionally white next to “The Wonderful Wizard of roles. Oz” at the Shakespeare Books & AnBrian Frishman, drama departtiques bookstore in Ashland. ment head at Country Day, said that The book was part of a banned- today color-blind casting is used by books section intended to educate most directors. However, Frishman said he follows store visitors about frequently challenged and controversial books, ac- his own rules.
PLOT LINES Emma Belliveau,‘16, Max Schmitz, ‘16, Brad Petchauer, ‘16, and Jake Sands, ‘16, arrange plot lines at a workshop in Ashland last year. The activity taught students about the story arc. PHOTO BY GRACIE STRUMPFER
“My philosophy is that if the piece isn’t specifically about race and using color-blind casting wouldn’t lessen the impact of the work, then I use color- (and sometimes gender-blind) casting,” Frishman said. For example, in “The Paper Chase” last year, Gracie Strumpfer, ‘16, played the lead professor who is male in the original play. And senior Jaelan Trapp played the romantic lead, who was written as white. Wallace said the criticism OSF receives for its selections is directed to their box office employees. The open DID YOU KNOW... letter states: “[Incidents] 20% of Drinking Water is Lost Due to Leaking Pipes! are happenLeaking Sewers Contaminate Groundwater and Cause Backups & Flooding! ing to our Box
Summer 2017 - Interns Wanted Not Enough Rain?
Too Much Rain?
Office employees, who bear the brunt of racially-charged and homophobic complaints about our approach to casting and season selection.” But Frishman said he believes that the number of people that object isn’t very high. “Audiences are so sophisticated these days that most people will follow the story and really not notice changes that don’t alter the storyline,” Frishman said. Another part of OSF’s effort to make a change has been their cooperation with the local Ashland police department. The company sat down with the Ashland police chief and discussed what could be done to create a more friendly environment, Wallace said. The company was pleased to know that the police force went through implicit-bias training, according to
Drama: Experienced senior actor says acting’s worth the time commitment (conitnued from page 3) In fact, many of the students in the class agree with Frishman’s comment about homework. Freshman Savannah Rosenzweig, who is in the class, said that she will not participate because she has too many after-school activities. Freshman Christopher Wilson, who is also in the class, agreed. Senior Austin Talamantes, who will be playing two roles in “LOVE/SICK,” has mixed
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Cortez. “Implicit bias refers to the attitudes or stereotypes that affect the understanding, actions and decisions in an unconscious manner,” according to the Kirwan Institute. “Our job is to find out what (the implicit biases) are,” Ashland police chief Tighe O’Meara said in a phone interview. “If we don’t work through them, they have the ability to affect the decisions we make unconsciously.” OSF is very pleased that the police force has shown the willingness to go deeper into the issue, Wallace said. Although the company knows that their efforts have just started, they are confident that they are making a difference. “The effort will continue, and hopefully we’re changing some minds,” Wallace said.
feelings on the homework load. “The hardest thing about being in the play is the time commitment,” he said. “The rehearsals, which occur two or more times a week, are two-and-a-half hours long, making drama very time consuming.” But Talamantes said the time is worth it. “During rehearsals, you spend a lot of time with people who become your friends. At the same time, it’s very interesting to see your friends act because you see them take on another personality.”
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September 20, 2016
THE OCTAGON
COMMUNITY
11
The long, unhappy tail of a runaway calico cat called Noe
After four search parties fail to find beloved pet, grieving owners hold memorial service in backyard BY JACK CHRISTIAN
L
osing a pet is every owner’s worst fear. And for the Lewis family, that fear came true. The Lewises adopted their cat Noe in
2008. Noe is a long-haired calico cat. She has a white belly and black-and-brown stripes with a white-and-brown face. And she has a long, fluffy, black-and-brown striped tail. “She has a really beautiful face,” Judy Lewis said. “People often comment on what a beautiful cat she is.” Noe was only a few months old when the Lewises’ daughter, Becky, ‘00, visited Charlotte Nichols, ‘00, in San Francisco. Nichols was fostering a group of kittens, so Becky decided to bring one home. The kittens were all named after regions in the Bay Area. Noe is named after the Noe Valley. (A sibling is named Alamo.) Since then, Noe had lived a happy and luxurious life with the Lewises in Sacramento. “Noe mostly likes to sleep, eat and sit on me when I sit down,” Judy said. She said Noe has two favorite toys: a shoelace and a curly pipe cleaner. “She likes to whack at and chase the curly pipe cleaner around,” Judy said. But one day in May that all changed. Noe had been outside playing with the Lewises’ dog, Duke, when she suddenly disappeared. It took a while for the Lewises to notice that she wasn’t around, but by the time they did, it was too late. “It was two days before our son’s college grad-
uation (Michael, ‘09), which made it even more devastating,” Steven Lewis, Becky’s father, said. “We were going to have to leave in just two days for New Orleans, so we had to find Noe quickly.” The Lewises began their search by scouring PHOTO USED BY the neighborhood for PERMISSION OF hours on end. JUDY LEWIS They created posters with a photo of Noe and posted them all around their neighborhood. “We spent hours just walking the streets in our neighborhood, c a l l ing Noe’s name,” Steven said. “Eventually time ran out, so we had to stop and leave for New Orleans.” Francie Neukom, ‘04, was supposed to house-sit for the Lewises while they were away, so they enlisted her help in finding Noe. Instead of taking care of Noe, Francie spent her days searching the streets for her. Francie also asked her father, teacher Daniel Neukom, to help her find Noe. In addition, Nichols helped with the search. But even with four search parties looking for her, Noe was not found. The Lewises returned from New Orleans after a few days, and resumed their search.
“We just felt defeated,” Steven said. “We began to give up hope.” In a final effort to find their missing cat, the Lewises placed an ad in their neighborhood’s electronic bulletin with a picture and description of Noe. Then one afternoon, 10 days after Noe’s disappearance, the Lewises received a phone call. “The caller said he had seen the remains of a cat that looked just like Noe,” Steven said. When they arrived at the location, the Lewises found Noe’s tail. “It was just heartbreaking,” Steven said. “We were already very sad, but this just broke us.” So the family conducted a small service in their backyard for their best friend Noe. “We buried her tail with some of her favorite toys,” Steven said. With heavy hearts, the Lewises tried their best to move on with their lives.
Family tree has deep roots in school
Tideys, Grieves have been part of community for three generations Francie Tidey Tidey worked at the school from 1969-86. While there, she served as head of high school, college counselor and an English teacher. She was also instrumental in starting the drama, music and journalism programs. She invented the Ancil Hoffman picnic, overnight school trips and the personalized graduation ceremony. Tidey died in 2003.
Clayton Tidey Tidey was the second headmaster of SCDS, serving from 1969-83. Under his leadership, the first eight permanent buildings were constructed. He hired current teachers Daniel Neukom, Patricia Fels, Sue Nellis, Barbara Fackenthall, Bill Stainbrook and Lauren LaMay. Tidey died in 2005.
But just two days later, a little furry friend showed up at the Lewises’ back door. It was Noe. “It was just the most wonderful feeling,” Steven said. “We were just ‘WE WERE shocked, and very exALREADY cited to see her. “She even had her SAD, BUT tail!” THIS JUST Noe had been BROKE US’ missing 13 days and STEVEN returned unharmed. An inside cat for LEWIS over eight years, she had not had much experience outside. Despite her lack of expertise, Noe returned to her roots and gifted her owners with a homecoming present from her adventures in the great outdoors. “When she got home, she coughed up a huge hairball with a mouse in it,” Steven said. The Lewises weren’t the only ones excited to see her back; Duke was also overjoyed. “Our dog would not leave her alone when she got home,” Steven said. “He licked her all over and followed her around the whole house.” Cat lover teacher Patricia Fels had been following the entire story as it unfolded. When she heard that Noe had returned from the dead, she was immediately reminded of a common Easter saying. Fels called up Francie and said, “She is risen.” And her daughter properly replied, “She is risen indeed.”
Half a Century at SCDS
When sophomore Meg Grieve graduates from high school in 2019, she will be leaving the school more than 50 years after her grandparents arrived.
Ashley Tidey Tidey was a Lifer at SCDS, graduating in 1983. In her senior year she was editor-in-chief of the Octagon and Homecoming queen. She currently teaches freshman English at Laguna Blanca School in Santa Barbara.
Pete Grieve Grieve attended SCDS from pre-K to fourth grade and returned for sixth grade before moving to Washington, D.C. He is now a sophomore at the University of Chicago.
Quincey Grieve Grieve was not only a Lifer, but a “Lifer plus one” because she was held back in kindergarten. She graduated in 1986, returned as a sixth-grade teacher in 2003, and became the head of middle school in 2005. As a student she was editor-in-chief of the Octagon and captain of the varsity basketball and softball teams; as an administrator she played a large role in starting the garden and the seventh-grade Renaissance Faire.
Tim Grieve Grieve started at SCDS in seventh grade, when his future father-in-law admitted him, and graduated in 1982. He was the Octagon editor-in-chief and Homecoming king and attended the infamous library party in his senior year, although he claims that he did not take part in any unauthorized beverage consumption. Tim and Quincey were married in 1992, and about half of the guests were related to the school.
Jack Grieve Grieve attended SCDS from pre-K to first grade, returned for third grade and is now back as a junior.
Meg Grieve Grieve attended SCDS from pre-K to kindergarten, then returned for second grade and is back as a sophomore.
12
THE OCTAGON
FEATURE
Masters Division Finalists (players born in 2000 or before) pose for a group picture at the Pokémon World Championships awards ceremony. These were finalists in the Pokémon Video Game World Championship, Pokkén Tournament World Championship and Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championship (TCG).
Eighth grader Connor Pedersen holds the Pokémon trophy that he won for being runner-up world champion and national champion at the Pokémon TCG Championship in the Senior Division (players born from 2001-04).
September 20, 2016
Jesper Eriksen (right), from Denmark, defeated Pedersen in the championship game. Eriksen and Pedersen wore headphones so that they couldn’t hear what the commentors were saying about the match. Erikson is the world champion.
EIGHTH GRADER BECOMES POKÉMON CHAMP By Annya Dahmani
E
ighth grader Connor Pedersen has over 5,000 Pokémon Trading Cards. No, that’s not a typo. More than 5,000. Pedersen may seem like a typical middle-school student at Country Day, but what most don’t know is that he just won $40,000 as a finalist in the 2016 Pokémon Trading Card Game World Championships. Pedersen competed among 300 other players from 35 different countries. And he finished as runner-up among the senior division finalists (players who were born from 2001-04), falling behind only Jesper Eriksen from Denmark, the world champion. Not only is Pedersen the runner-up in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, but he is also the national champion. Pedersen’s card-trading career began roughly three years ago. “I started collecting cards because they looked cool,” Pedersen said. “Then, (after collecting a lot of cards), I wanted to start playing.” The Pokémon Trading Card Game, also known as Pokémon TCG, is a two-player game. Each player makes their own deck of 60 cards that contain Pokémon cards, Trainer cards and Energy cards. Players take seven cards from the top of their shuffled decks and keep these cards in their
hand. Then players take six more cards, called Prize cards, from their decks and place these to the left of them, face down. The objective of Pokémon Trading Cards is to take the six Prize cards of their opponent. In order to do this, one has to knock out the opponent’s Pokémon by using attacks. Different Pokémon cards differ in the level of their attack. Pokémon attacks reduce the power of other Pokémon until they reach zero HP, also known as Hit Points. HP represents the health of a Pokémon. Once a Pokémon reaches zero HP, it is knocked out. Once a player takes all the Prize cards, the player wins. The game is very strategic and requires many hours of practice, according to Pedersen. “Before Worlds I was spending more than three hours a day practicing,” he said. “I would practice against myself and my friends.” On Aug. 19, Pedersen attended Worlds for his third time, hoping to do better than he had in previous years. In 2014, Pedersen went to his first Worlds in Washington, D.C., and finished in the top 32; in 2015 he attended Worlds in Boston and made top 32 once again. This year, Worlds happened to be in San Francisco, conveniently close to home. In order to qualify for Worlds, players have to accrue champion points by doing well in other tournaments, such as a regional championship, according to Pedersen. Pedersen qualified for Worlds at the Seattle Regionals last May. “I met a lot of new people (at Worlds) from around the world,” Pedersen said. Language barriers don’t cause any problems while playing Pokémon Trading Cards, he said, because translators are hired to help players communicate with each other. In addition to translators, there are commentators at the final match at Worlds. “It was cool,” Pedersen said. “But (Eriksen and I) had to be muted. They gave us headphones with these water sounds so we couldn’t
hear what the commentators were saying.” app on her phone. Although Pedersen didn’t win the world “I just play it whenever I babysit or when I’m champion title, he won over $25,000 in prizes in a different city like San Francisco,” she said. and $15,000 in scholarship money, four Master Senior Alexa Mathisen started playing Sets of cards and the opportunity to meet the Pokémon video games when she was around 5 Japanese president and CEO of the Pokémon years old. Company, Tsunekazu Ishihara. “When I was little, all my friends had Game Pedersen was at Worlds from Aug. 19-21. Boys, but I didn’t have any video games at my Two of those days he was competing from 9 house,” she said. “But I do remember playing a.m.-9 p.m. (Pokémon video games) at other people’s housAnd the work continued once he got home. es, and it was really fun. I feel like we were living Not long after returning, Pedersen said that in a Pokémon culture when we were younger.” news stations began calling to set up interviews. Although Mathisen stopped playing the On Sept. 5 he appeared on Fox 40, and on games when she was 9, she was “super pumped” Sept. 11 he was on ABC. when she heard Pokémon Go was coming out. And his fame won’t stop there, as he will defi“I got it the first day,” she said. nitely be attending Worlds next year, he said. While Mathisen said that she thinks the This time the Pokémon Company will pay for Pokémon culture is dying out, senior Mac Scott his trip to Anaheim. doesn’t agree. Although Pedersen is the only “I think Pokémon is bigger than Pokémon Trading Card competitor ever,” Scott said. “Ever since video at the school, Pokémon in genergames were available for pre-oral is popular with students. der, (Pokémon games) were In fact, in a poll taken on at the very top of Amazon’s Sept. 6, 70 of 117 high-school top selling. I think Pokémon students said that they have is more popular now (than played or currently play some when) it came out 20 years form of a Pokémon game. ago.” Junior Yasmin Gupta, for In fact, Scott plays mainly instance, plays the Pokémon video games, recently released his favorites being Pokémon Go moHeartGold and RUNNER-UP WORLD CHAMPION bile app. SoulSilver. Pokémon Go is a “I got HeartCONNOR PEDERSEN, EIGHTH GRADER mobile game availGold and SoulSilable for iPhones and ver for my eighth Androids that allows birthday,” Scott said. players to catch, train and battle Pokémon char- “And I’ve been playing ever since.” acters in augmented reality. There are many aspects that draw Scott to The game was released on July 6 and was Pokémon, especially the complexity and strattried by many students. egy. However, despite the app breaking multiple “Pokémon does a very good job in presenting records in both the Android and Apple app rules that are simple to understand but are comstores, the Pokémon Go craze quickly dimin- plex enough to not know which options are the ished after the initial hype. best,” he said. “It’s like a multi-layer rock-paBut Gupta is one of the few who still has the per-scissors game.”