THE SUMMER TIMES ‘The Summer Newspaper of Phillips Exeter Academy’
Vol. XLI, Number 2
Thursday, July 13, 2017
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Phillips Exeter Academy, Exeter, New Hampshire
Yo, World!
Alec Greaney / The Summmer Times Staff
Our origins at a glance: Exeter Summer students in 2017 hail from 53 different countries and 36 states and territories. See page 2.
Field Day Brightens Storm-Filled Saturday By FREDERICK ALWORTH and JUSTICE WYSINGER Summer Times Staff Writers
Probably the most asked question at Exeter last Saturday was: Is Field Day taking place? After every student had received a “Severe Weather Warning” in the morning, the future of this year’s Field Day seemed uncertain. Shortly before the scheduled beginning, the weather suddenly improved and the faculty informed the students that the tradition would go on this year as well. Subsequently all dorms gathered excitedly and marched in large groups towards the Academy Lawn. All dorms, distinguishable by their colored personalized TShirts, cheered and laughed when the other teams arrived. The dorms had worked up to the competition. Together they had been styling their shirts for a week. The preparation itself was already
a collaborative effort, which was a “great opportunity to bond with my dorm mates,” said Jolie Bercow from New York. Many dorms presented original designs, for instance the winners of the girls competition, Dunbar. Their creative jersey shows a weightlifting bar and the word dun and bar, symbolizing them raising the bar over their opponents and their strength. In should be kept in mind that students from across the world came together in Exeter during this friendly competition. They competed in three races: the potato sack race, the izzy-dizzy relay race and the three-legged race. Cultures varied, and some students weren’t used to such odd races. Despite the diversity on campus, many students had similar opinions about Field Day. “I think it’s cool,” said Simbarashe Damitoni, a summer See FIELD, page 3
Score Results Here are the top-three dorms in each category: ACCESS BOYS
1. Soule 30 Alec Greaney / The Summer Times Staff
2. Kirkland/Knight 22 3. Webster 20 ACCESS GIRLS
1. Langdell 20 2. Bancroft 16 2. McConnell 16 UPPER BOYS
1. Wheelwright 36 2. Ewald 22 3. Main St. 14 UPPER GIRLS Courtesy of Xitai Chen
Above: Two students from Soule Hall compete in the three-legged race. Below: A student from Amen Hall races ahead of her competitors in the sack race.
1. Dunbar 19 2. Cilley 18 3. Merrill 14
Syrian Crisis: A Call to Conscience CAUTION! There's Construction Afoot By ALEX SABOYA
Summer Times Staff Writer
By KAITLYN GOSAKTI A kind-hearted woman is trying to make the world a better place by helping Syrian refugees findi shelter. Lina Sergie Attar is a SyrianAmerican woman who is the CEO and co-founder of the Karam Foundation. She was born in New York and then moved to Syria and lived there for 12 years until she graduated university. Starting the Karam Foundation all came to her with only one question in mind, “What are the needs? What do the Syrian refugees need?” And so, with this question in mind, she started finding out what these Syrians needed when arriving in her country and she started getting it for them. She gathered food and medical supplies at first, but after a while, she realized the children coming in the country needed education, so she started providing that for them as well. This is how the Karam See ASSEMBLY, page 4
Summer Times Staff Writer
Phillips Exeter Academy is a divine secondary school campus in the cozy town of New Hampshire. As one of the oldest secondary schools in the United States, the academy is abundant in historic buildings and green patches of grass. But for most of the year, Exeter embarks on a mission to continuously improve the school facilities. One thing you will not miss as you rummage your way to class are the huge, dusty piles of soil and cement guarded by dandelion- yellow “CAUTION” tapes. Once you catch sight of the South Campus, these moun-
tains of concrete lie scattered at every corner of your eye; often accompanied by the blaring sounds of machinery operated by contractors in their bright yellow helmets. Exeter’s South Campus, the main land for the athletic complex, is undergoing two huge renovations - namely a theater and a new field house. According to Ms. Elena GosalvezBlanco, the director in charge of this new construction, “these projects have been ongoing during the year” since mid-2016. The David E. Goel and Stacy L. Goel Center for Theater and Dance is being built See CONSTRUCT, page 3
Alec Greaney / The Summer Times Staff
Four refugees from Syria are attending Summer School thanks to efforts by PEA and the Karam.
Write 4 Us? Right 4 U!
Contribute to The Summer Times. We’re looking for: Articles. Commentaries. Poems. Cartoons. Camera Photographs. They must be ORIGINAL, by you and your co-authors, and not previously submitted to your school, etc. But classwork here is OK.
Email submissions with your full name and contact info (cell phone, dorm, etc) to: thesummertimes17@gmail.com We’ll publish as many as we can.
Ralph Blumenthal / The Summer Times Staff
Construction crews shift sidewalks along Front Street.